Everything and Nothing
by The Sage of Toads
Summary: A story literally told a thousand times by now. Louise summons a different familiar, but the fun is guessing what the twist is!
1. The Unfamiliar

Disclaimer: Zero no Tsukaima's turn. Let's shred my credibility with an Original Character!

**Everything and Nothing**  
The Unfamiliar

_As far as blunders go, this one's pretty epic._

**[1.]**

Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière let out a sigh as she watched her classmates marveled at their newly summoned familiars. Bugbears, Moles, Parrots, even a Salamander by that top-heavy Kirche, probably the biggest of them brought into the world. With her success rate of magic use–zero–she was regretting her defensive boast to Kirche and her little clique more than ever.

"_Just you watch, I will summon the most sacred, beautiful, and strong familiar spirit that will be unmatched, even with everyone's familiars combined!"_

She'd made her bed, and now she was about to sleep in it. How could she hope to compete with a salamander? Maybe if their teacher forgot about her, she could go off and summon a familiar without anyone seeing it. That's what she hoped, at least, before she heard Kirche call her out.

"Miss Vallière hasn't summoned yet, Mr. Colbert," Kirche replied to the bald and bespectacled teacher's inquiry regarding the completion of the summoning.

As all eyes fell on her, Louise's cheeks became as pink as her hair from embarrassment

Louise narrowed her eyes at Kirche, and steeled herself before walking over to the center of the gathered group. All around her, she could hear her peers musing over what will happen, if she'd summon a familiar of if it'd all explode in her face, as all her attempts at magic happened to before.

"It's the Zero again," she heard one say amongst the yammering.

"I wonder if we should be this close, it could be a really big explosion this time," Another murmured.

Taking a deep breath, Louise snapped at her detractors. "I need to concentrate, would you please let me so I won't mess up!"

"Yes, please," Colbert said, "Let Miss Vallière focus."

To Louise's side, Kirche was seated, on the grass petting her salamander, as red as her hair, while its flame-tipped tail lashed about. "Right, because to summon the _most sacred, beautiful, and strong_ familiar spirit you need the utmost concentration."

Louise clenched her tiny fist around her wand as Kirche's familiar seemed to laugh with her. "Of course, now stand back!"

Relaxing her fist, she raised her wand to the air. "Oh Brimir who watches over me and Pentagon that Governs the magic that powers me, hear my call! Through time and space, beyond all reality, send forth to me a familiar of power beyond all thought!"

The unique chant surprised Louise's peers, but she paid them no mind as she finished it. "I have told my desire, now hear and guide it to me!"

She pointed her wand forward, and to everyone's surprise nothing happened. No explosion, no smoke, not even a spark from the wand. Blinking, Louise stared down her wand at where she had expected her familiar to appear and then pouted. "W-what…? Where, where is it? What happened?"

Confusion became amusement in the crowd of students, with Kirche laughing the loudest at the tiny mage's failure. "Oh! So it would seem that Zero Louise has summoned a zero!"

"Miss Zerbst," Colbert tried to say in order to defend Louise, but one of the other students suddenly let out a cry and pointed. Turning around, Colbert's eyes widened as a glowing point appeared in the ground and began to grow. The laughter subsided to quieted surprise, as the students, especially Kirche and Louise.

"Wait, what is that?" Kirche said apprehensively as she stood up.

Another student called out, "It's the summoning symbol, but it's changing!"

The symbol of summoning, a star within a pentagon within a circle, had indeed appeared and was changing dramatically. The star began to grow outward, shattering first the pentagram and then the circle that ringed it as it transformed into a much simpler shape, a five-pointed asterisk.

"An asterisk?" Louise asked as she stepped back from the growing symbol.

The arms of the asterisk continued to grow, causing the students in their way to quickly get clear before they came in contact. They did so at the right moment, the arms of the asterisk suddenly shot outward across the ground, smashing through anything that was in their path with violent force as rays of light shot skyward from them. The force of the eruption threw Louise to the ground.

Separated by the walls of light on either side of her, Louise looked towards the center of the symbol, and could see something coming up through it, but she could barely make it out before the light turned a deep red, and then promptly extinguished, leaving five narrow lines of scorched earth extending towards the horizon and a whole lot of smoke.

* * *

"Is everyone alright?" Colbert called out as he waved his wand to clear the smoke. "Louise, are you… okay…?"

Louise was, of course, unharmed. She was staring at her summoned familiar, now standing atop the bare, glassy ground that the center of the symbol had appeared in. As the other students stared, Louise could not believe what had happened. "A human?"

It was very much a young male human, over six feet tall, a bit on the thin side, and wearing a hooded red sweater and blue slacks of an unknown material. He looked like a commoner, a commoner with no magic, but around his waist was a heavy-looking belt with several pouches on it and a sheathed broadsword attached at his hip.

Disoriented, the summoned human looked around, first at the scorched earth, and then at the robed students and teacher staring at him. Seeing robes and wands and oddly colored hair, most notably the pink-haired girl directly in front of him, he brought his hand up to run his fingers through his short brown hair and shook his head.

"Did I get transported to Hogwarts or something?" He asked.

"W-who are you? Answer me!"

He looked down at Louise when she snapped at him.

"Who am I?" He shot back at her, growing distressed. "Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?"

One minute, he'd been minding his own business, enjoying a day off for once, and the next he was here…wherever here was. He shook his head and calmed down before he began to assure himself. "Okay, calm down, you're a man of the world; you're used to this by now. You somehow got transported somewhere by a weird little wizard girl…"

Louise took offense. "Who are you calling little?"

"You're over a foot shorter than me." He answered. "I think you fit the bill."

Peals of laughter interrupted them, and the summoned young man turned to see the other magical folk were enjoying the show. One student said to another. "Leave it to Louise the Zero to summon a commoner."

"This makes your boasting worth it." He turned his attention to the dark-skinned, red headed beauty that spoke next, and stared at her.

"_She… she looks just like Barb…"_ He thought before his gaze wandered down to her chest. _"…In every way. Well, except she's definitely shorter than her and the red hair–ah, focus."_

He turned to face Louise, whose embarrassment was mounting under the jeering from the crowd. Sympathy took the edge off his mix of feelings. "Look, I'm sorry. I just would like to know where I am, how I ended up here, and if I can perhaps go back."

Louise seemed intent on ignoring him, as she turned to Colbert. "Please Mr. Colbert, let me try again!"

"Uh, hey, I was asking a question!" he said. "You guys are speaking English, right?"

It certainly sounded like English to him. He looked for Colbert, and his heart sank when he heard his answer. "I'm sorry, I can't let you."

"What?" Louise and her summoned human said together.

The latter pressed forward. "Why? I don't belong here!"

"This is a sacred ceremony to determine a mage's life. Redoing it would be a desecration of six thousand years of tradition. Regardless of whether you like it or not, he has been decided as your familiar spirit," Colbert explained.

Louise was not happy about this, the poor schmuck she summoned even less. Marching up to Colbert, he grabbed him by the robes. "Hold on, what about if I like it or not? You can't just pluck some guy out of thin air and make him a…! Wait…I'm her _what_."

The other students were aghast, and Louise immediately grabbed him by the hood of his sweater. "Put him down, right this instant!"

"Huh? Hey!" A repulsing force from Colbert threw the summoned youth onto his back with a thud.

He quickly got up. "Just one minute, I don't have time to be someone's familiar! I have my own life, damn it, and I'd like to go back to living it!"

Louise, seeing this as an opportunity, quickly joined his side. "Yes, so let me send him back so I can do it over!"

Colbert wanted to be sympathetic, but tradition was tradition, and more importantly… "You can't send him back, Louise. Once summoned, a familiar spirit cannot be returned from whence it came."

Well, this was a day-ruining experience. The summoned young man fell down onto his backside, slapped his palms to his face and dragged them down off his chin. "I don't believe this."

Louise was just as despondent. "I can't take a commoner as my familiar!"

"Commoner or not, there will be no exceptions, Louise," Colbert said. "Continue the ceremony or you will be expelled."

And just like that, Louise abandoned any notion of trying to do it over amidst the laughter of her peers. Expelled from school because she refused to make this… this… thing her familiar! She'd never be able to face her. With great shame, she turned to face the young man as he looked up at her.

"Look, I understand you don't want to get thrown out of school, but I am not your thesis, okay?" He asked as he tried to creep back from her.

As students encouraged her, Louise scowled and grabbed him by his collar before dropping down to straddle his lap. He leaned back from her, shaking his head. "Hey! What did I just tell you?"

"You should be grateful," she quickly said to him, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a commoner to get this from a noble."

"Sorry, where I'm from the dated ideal of aristocracy is long dead–!" She rested her wand on his lips, silencing him.

"My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière," She said as the wand began to glow, "Pentagon that governs the five powers…"

"_Five? That's just like…"_ Her familiar-to-be realized as she spoke.

"…Give this person your blessing, and bind him as my familiar!" Louise called out before she removed the wand from his lips and gave him a short, chaste kiss.

And just as quickly a flash of light ensued and Louise was sent flying through the air, to crash into Colbert, sending both to the ground with a thud. Once again, the other students were silent at another unprecedented event, and the would-be familiar slowly got up, as confused as they were.

"Guys, what just happened?" He asked.

Louise got up with help from Colbert, and shook her head. "I don't understand, I did everything right, why did that… ow… ow… OW!"

Shock became amazement, as Louise gripped her wrist and fell to her knees before Colbert could catch her. "It… it burns… why…?"

Colbert stared in disbelief. "Wait, no, this can't be!"

Louise screamed and fell forward, clutching her hand. Of all the other students watching, it was Kirche who was first to rush over. "Louise!"

The yet-to-be named summon shook his head. "I don't know what happened, honest, your spell must've backfired!"

Just as quickly as it began, it was over and a heavily taxed Louise gasped for breath as the burning sensation from her left hand faded. Kirche and Colbert looked down at her hand, and both gasped when they saw, carved into her flesh in bold black lines, a single asterisk. On seeing it, the young man's eyes briefly widened.

"What kind of symbol is that…?" Kirche asked.

Colbert shook his head. "I've never seen it."

Louise had caught her breath, and was trying to rise.

"Louise, are you alright?" Colbert called to her.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, it…" Louise stopped and stared at her hand. "…Why…why is the rune carved into _my_ hand?"

"My word…" Colbert stared at it.

Kirche, also staring, brought the back of her hand up to her mouth and began to laugh. "L-Louise… you… you…"

She fell back, laughing uproariously. "You became your commoner summons' familiar!"

Hilarity ensued, as the other students joined her in laughing. Colbert, still amazed by this unprecedented moment, held up Louise's hand to examine the mark. "I've never seen a rune like this…"

It was a going theme; he looked at the strange young man as he stared at Louise. Who was this man?

Louise, shutting her eyes tightly, tensed up as her humiliation was completed. After making it through her first year despite her reputation and trying so hard, to end up embarrassed in front of her entire class like this. It was all she could take, but she wouldn't let them have the benefit of seeing her cry and she buried her face in her hands.

Seeing her on the verge of breaking down despite her efforts, the man she summoned sighed and looked around the students treating it like a big joke and rested his hand on the hilt of the sword on his hip. "Alright, that's enough!"

Some looked towards him, but he found the reaction unsatisfactory. Letting out a frustrated growl, he tried again. "I said that's ENOUGH!"

The force and anger in his shout quickly got their attention. As Louise looked with surprise at the young man, he removed his hand from his sword and walked over to her and Colbert.

"I don't know what happened," he said, "But it's my fault so I'll take responsibility. Mr. Colbert, right? What exactly happened?"

Colbert stared at the young man, surprised by the power in his voice. "Young man, Louise's contract binding you to her backfired for some unknown reason, she is bound to you as your familiar now."

He figured that much already, but it looked like he wasn't getting any better answers from the bald dude. The young man scratched his head in disbelief, and then looked down at Louise again as she looked up at him. Kirche was staring too, all eyes were on him.

"Uh…" I see," he said quietly. "Is…is there a way to fix it?"

"I'm afraid this is unprecedented, so I wouldn't know where to begin." Colbert explained to him gravely. "I'll have to discuss this with the Headmaster. What is your name?"

About time someone asked, he remarked to himself before he answered, "Ryan Ingram."

Colbert nodded and then turned to the rest of the class. "The ceremony is over. You may return to your dormitories! Hurry along now!"

Taking immediate advantage of the distraction away from her, Louise did her best to shore up her composure and got up as her classmates quickly heeded their teacher. This had to be a mistake, yes, there was no way she was the familiar of this commoner.

Colbert faced Ryan and Louise as Kirche followed the other students away. "Again I apologize, this has never happened before. I will try to have it sorted out, but in the meantime we should get you situated Mr. Ingram. As Louise summoned you, you are her responsibility."

Wouldn't he be responsible for her? She was the familiar after all. Ryan didn't bring this up out of consideration for the girl and nodded to Colbert. He looked a little despondent as he asked. "There really isn't any way for me to return home, is there?"

"The spell has always been about summoning here, not returning them to where they belonged," Colbert explained.

"We'll see about that," Ryan inwardly remarked before he looked again to Louise, who had largely recovered. "I see."

He looked to Louise. "Uh, is there someplace I can get cleaned up then? I was out for a hike when I got snatched up, so I'm a little dingy."

Louise regarded him silently for a moment, before she begrudgingly nodded and gestured for him to follow her. There just had to be some way out of this, she wasn't going to be the familiar of a commoner She was a noble, a Vallière! The moment her sisters found out about this, her life would be over from the embarrassment.

She looked at the rune on her hand and clenched it into a fist. No, maybe the rune meant nothing and she was still the master in this situation. She could still take control of the situation. So what if she summoned a commoner, she was the mage here, damn it!

Ryan also looked at Louise's hand, and felt a great dread as he reached behind himself to scratch his back. That rune meant trouble was coming, and it was only a matter of time before it showed up…if it wasn't already here.

He rested the hand on the hilt of his sword and sighed as he thought, _What have I been dragged into this time?_

_"I'm not sure,"_ A voice replied in his thoughts, _"But it should be interesting, shouldn't it?"_

* * *

A/N: Well, look at this! I wonder what'll happen next?


	2. Louise the Zero

Disclaimer: Andrew Joshua Talon provided the main inspiration for Ryan Ingram's character.

**Everything and Nothing**  
Louise the Zero

_You're gonna hate this place, kid_

**[2.]**

"So I'm at the Tristain Academy of Magic, in the country of Tristain on the continent of Halkenginia," Ryan reviewed with Louise as they entered the school's dormitory tower. "No, there are no places like that in my world."

Louise was having trouble believing that Ryan was not from her world, claiming that his Earth was entirely different from the one he was on now. Trying to make any sense of it was frustrating. There weren't other worlds, there was just her Earth. "I still don't believe it."

"Well, it's true. Up until I was summoned, I was hiking in the Zoar Valley and minding my own business." It would do him no good to try to drop names for where he was from, since this was another world, no one would know anything about his.

Entering the staircase of the tower, they began to ascend and Louise frowned. "Zoar Valley?"

She shook her head. "It's impossible, there's no such thing as other worlds."

"Yes there are," He shot back.

"You probably just don't know better. I bet you're from some isolated country on the other side of the world that still thinks it's flat or something." Louise said as they reached her floor.

She was a cheese-grater, and his nerves were a hunk of Parmesan aged ten months, Ryan noted to himself. Why couldn't the short witch with a lot of hair be a shy bookworm or something?

Still, he reminded himself that she was still stressed out about today and held on to his patience. "I'm not and I would appreciate if you didn't insult my intelligence."

Letting out a huff, Louise marched ahead. "The only intelligence being insulted is mine. Why did I have to be stuck with such a mouthy familiar?"

He held on for as long as he could. "My thought exactly."

Louise stopped and then whirled around to face him. "Let's get one thing clear! I summoned you, so you're my familiar, you got that? Regardless of who is bound to whom, I'm the noble and you're the commoner so remember your place!"

Ryan tried to get a hold on his agitation but it slipped right through his fingers. "My place is back where I came from! You should be lucky I've been this calm about my situation, you bratty midget!"

"W-what did you just call me?" Louise yelled at him as she went and drew her wand.

Ryan promptly snatched it from her hand and tossed it aside, eliciting a protest from her. "Hey!"

"You don't want to do that," Ryan warned her before he brushed past her.

Bringing his fingers up to the bridge of his nose, he rubbed it before looking back. "Tell me where the bathroom is so I can wash up."

Louise had picked up her wand after Ryan had shoved past her, and was ready to fire a spell at him, but she hesitated. An uncomfortable feeling welled up in Louise, as she lowered her wand and put it in her pocket. Letting out an angry sound, she walked straight to her bedroom door and opened it.

"I have a bath in my room, you can use that," She said tensely, "You should be honored; a commoner like you would never be permitted to use the facilities of a revered place like this!"

Ryan rolled his eyes and walked in. "I'll be sure to clean up after myself."

When Louise moved to follow him, he closed the door in her face and locked it. "Hey! What do you think you are doing?"

"Your bath is in the open like this," Ryan retorted, "I'd rather not be indecent in front of a woman, it's ungentlemanly."

Louise snorted. "It's not like I see you as a man anyway! You're just a familiar spirit!"

"So says the girl with the familiar rune on her hand," He called back.

Louise clenched her teeth, and steam rose off her head in anger before she drew her wand and pointed it at the door. "If you don't open this door immediately I'll knock it down!"

"It's your door," He shot back before Louise heard water running.

"Oh, indoor plumbing and hot water, there's an anachronism I'm happy to see. At least I'm not in the dark ages."

"I'm going to count to three!" Louise snapped at him.

"Hey! Just sit down and cool off for a little bit! When I'm done I'll let you in!" Ryan shouted back.

Louise tensed up, her face completely red with rage, before she lowered her hand, turned around and slumped back against her door before sitting down. The nerve of that commoner, how dare he just order her around? "It's not even worth it, just so you know! I don't want to have to get my door fixed over a commoner!"

On the other side of the door, Ryan slipped out of the last of his clothes and sat down in the tub. His back firmly against the wall of the tub, he relaxed in the hot water and looked over towards his sword, an ornate blade that looked more like a toy or display piece than anything. Turning his gaze up to the ceiling, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Someone will realize I'm missing eventually, but then what? Will they even be able to find me?" He said to himself.

Opening his eyes, he sank down into the water up to just below his nose. _If they can't get me, I'll have to find my own way back._

"_You shouldn't worry yourself about it too much. You'll end up depressed, or worse,"_ the other voice in his head spoke.

_I'll do my best to stay frosty, Wulf,_ Ryan replied to the other voice.

"_That's the ticket."_ The voice replied.

* * *

An hour later, an increasingly agitated Louise waited for the door to open. What was taking him? Did he drown in the tub? Part of her hope he did, though disposing of the body would probably be an issue. Before she could get up to pound on the door, it opened and she fell onto her back.

She stared up at Ryan, now wearing a T-shirt and shorts, as he stared down at her. He was also wearing his belt with his sword on it. "Okay, I'm done. Where do I go to get my clothes washed?"

Louise sprang to her feet. "What took you so long? I was waiting out here for an hour!"

"Well I had to get myself cleaned and then soaked for a while. After that, I had to clean out the tub when I was done. I was being considerate," Ryan replied with a tense edge in his voice.

She was going to grind her teeth down to nothing dealing with this man, Louise just knew it. "Take it downstairs to the laundry room!"

"Ah, thanks." Ryan smiled pleasantly and then walked off for the stairs. As he walked away, she growled and stomped into her room and slammed the door behind her.

"Why did I have to summon a commoner? I wanted something cool like a griffin or a dragon! This isn't fair!" he heard her rant before letting out a small laugh and going down the stairs.

"She's way too high-strung; she needs an outlet for that temper," He mused aloud as he made his way to the bottom of the stairs.

When he went out to the hallway, he stopped when he came across what seemed to be a romantic interlude. "Oh!"

Guiche de Gramont, Earth Elemental Mage, third son of a wealthy family with generations of military service behind them, and all around fop was chatting up a naïve First Year girl with the express purpose of getting into her pure white panties. Katie, the young lady, had been swiftly taken in by his stunning good looks, charm, and purple prose speech.

"I'm very good at making soufflé," she nervously revealed, "If you want I could make you one!"

"Oh? I would love to have a taste of it." Among other things, Guiche added inwardly, as he put a hand on Katie's shoulder and raised a red rose in his free hand.

_A playboy,_ Ryan immediately identified with amusement before he began walking past with every intention to mind his own business.

"Really?" Katie asked excitedly.

As Ryan passed them, he heard Guiche say something to the girl that made him give pause. "Of course, I'd never lie to your eyes."

Ryan turned and stared at the two, as Guiche continued his little game. "There's never a hidden side of my affection for you, Katie."

Guiche then noticed Ryan staring at him in parts amusement and disbelief. It took a moment for him to recognize him without his earlier attire, but the height and absurdly plain style gave him away. "You're that commoner Louise summoned."

Katie turned and went wide-eyed, he was so tall. "I heard about him, when he was summoned he damaged the school's wall, right?"

"Right," Ryan said, "My name's Ryan Ingram and I'm sorry if I ruined your moment."

Guiche smiled; how polite it was of the commoner to give his name and apologize. "There's nothing to apologize, sir."

He looked aside to Katie. "Nothing can interrupt my passion for Katie."

"Oh, I see! Pardon me then." Ryan was going to let him get right back to that moment, but he couldn't help laugh as he turned and kept going.

Hearing that, Guiche frowned. "Huh? Hey, you, Ingram. What was that just now?"

Ryan stopped and looked back. "What was what?"

"Did something amuse you, by chance?" Guiche knew a derisive laugh when he heard one; he'd done his fair share of them.

"Oh? I just had an amusing thought, that's all," Ryan quickly said as he raised his hands up, implying he wanted no trouble.

Guiche caught this as an opportunity to assert some dominance over the strange male to enter the domain of his school, and impress Katie a little more. "Why, I love a good laugh as much as the next. Do share?"

He had wanted Ryan to balk and try to placate him, but his adversary read him easily. Ryan lowered his hands and chuckled again. "I just thought your flirting was kind of bad."

Guiche de Gramont was a man of many things, of women, of roses, of all things elegant and beautiful, but most importantly he was a man of pride! Pride he took in his skill as a mage, his beloved familiar, and most importantly his ability to chase and capture the hearts of pretty girls!

"Bad, you say?" Guiche asked.

"Well, yes, it was corny."

"Corny?" Guiche had no idea what that meant, but it sounded insulting.

"Very, you should be embarrassed."

Embarrassed! Oh now that tore it. Guiche remained on the offensive. "It is poor taste to be so rude, commoner, especially in the presence of a lady."

Katie, of course, swooned at Guiche's defense of her honor, while a twinge of annoyance flared up in Ryan. That bugged him just a little more than Louise's attitude, he didn't care much for showoffs. He was only going to knock him down a half a peg, though.

Ryan performed a melodramatic bow. "I apologize, madam."

He then looked up directly to Katie. "And you too, Miss."

Guiche recoiled at that, and Ryan turned and walked away, laughing to himself. He waved back without looking. "Have a good night, ladies!"

"Oh! How rude!" Katie gasped.

Clenching the rose in his hand, Guiche glared after Ryan as he turned the corner. "I will not forget this insult, commoner."

Having ruined that fop's night–well that or won him some pity sex–Ryan reached a large, circular room with a large and ornate fountain going in its center. There he found another couple in some sort of display and raised his brows. Wasn't this supposed to be a school? Who let their students get up to things like this?

"It's almost like a dream that I get to spend time alone with The Fervent Kirche," The beau of the voluptuous and beautiful Kirche, a young man with crazy sideburns named Sticks, said to her.

Kirche leaned against Sticks. "I don't think I can stop at being Fervent tonight…"

"Hey, can you tell me where I can find the laundry room?" Ryan asked, interrupting their moment.

Both stared at him, before Sticks spoke, "Isn't that The Zero's familiar?"

Kirche shook her head. "No, Louise is his familiar."

Sticks turned to Kirche, surprised. "How, did she mess up that spell too?"

He laughed. "First summoning a commoner human and then becoming his familiar, how sad is that?"

Kirche laughed herself. "It's tragic, almost."

She turned to Ryan and pointed to another door. "The laundry is through there. But shouldn't you have your familiar do that?"

"It'd be about all she's good for," Sticks added, and the two laughed together.

Ryan decided he didn't like Kirche, and it was all the more insulting given who she looked like. His smile became a little nasty, as he walked past them towards the indicated doorway.

"I'm quite alright. I'm not so lazy that I have to have people clean up after me," he said derisively as he walked past.

There was no mistaking the intent of his statement, and being a man in the company of a beautiful woman, Sticks fell into the same hole as Guiche and rose to his feet. "Hey, commoner, don't take that kind of tone with nobility!"

Ryan ignored him as he pushed open the door and went through it, and Sticks growled. "There's a man who doesn't know his place."

Kirche was staring after him, a little impressed by that attitude. "Yes…"

Sighing, Sticks sat back down next to Kirche, and smirked. "Where were we, oh Fervent Kirche?"

"Oh, I'm not in the mood anymore," Kirche quickly said as she turned her nose up, and Sticks' jaw fell in disappointment.

* * *

"Douchebags posturing to impress women, it's a good thing that some things are…" Ryan stopped, and hummed in consideration. "…Multiversal? Omniversal?"

Maybe he was still in his universe and just on a different planet so he could use universal? Maybe, he didn't know. "Some things just don't change."

A few doors later and Ryan had finally made it to the laundry room; where he found only a few people working in a few wash basins, leaving others open. "Providence!"

He quickly went to a basin, checked his pockets one more time before dumping his filthy clothes into the soapy water. The other washers turned and looked at him as he stirred the sweater and pants around in the water. As he lifted the shirt up, he began to sing to himself.

"There's a moment you know…you're fucked. Not an inch more room to self destruct," He sang as he scrubbed the shirt. "No more moves–oh yeah, the dead end zone! Man you just can't call your soul your own."

He stopped, and then let out a chuckle. "But the thing that makes you really jump is that the weirdest shit is still to come. You can ask yourself: 'Hey, what have I done?". You're just a fly–the little guys, they kill for fun."

"Is that a song?" A woman's voice interrupted Ryan, and he looked over to its source, a cute maid. She immediately added, "I didn't mean to interrupt; you just sounded a little upset."

Ryan smiled. "A little, I'm sorry if I offended you."

"It's alright, are you a new student? Usually the staff comes and takes care of your clothes," The maid explained. "By the way, my name is Siesta."

"Hello Siesta, I'm Ryan. I'm not so much a new student as an errant summon, I guess." With that he resumed scrubbing his shirt.

Siesta stared at him in bemusement. "Errant summon…?"

It then dawned on her. "Oh! You're the familiar that Miss Vallière summoned! I had heard something had gone wrong with the contract binding, is she alright?"

"She's angry and humiliated, and I don't blame her for feeling as much." Ryan held up his sweater and examined it. Finding it satisfactory, he ran it through the wringer mounted on the basin.

Siesta looked a little sad. "I see. After gaining her reputation, something like this must've crushed her."

What reputation, though? Not many people seemed to care much for Louise, not so much as hate her, but he knew the butt of a joke when he saw one, personal experiences and all. "What is her reputation, why do people pick on her?"

Siesta had expected him to find out by now. "Well, you see…as a mage Miss Vallière has no talent. Every spell she attempts blows up. Because of that, she has a zero success rate for any magic."

"So that's where Zero Louise comes from." Ryan felt a little bad, knowing this. The poor girl's self-esteem was shorter than she was.

"It's terrible, really, because she tries so hard to be a good mage and nothing comes of it. If she can't do magic, then she'll be no better than a commoner," Siesta lamented.

Ryan hummed. "That's been been bothering me since I got here, is that the difference between nobles and commoners around here, the ability to use magic?"

Siesta stared at him. "Yes, you mean…you didn't know?"

Ryan shook his head and focused on scrubbing his pants. "No, I didn't. Those who have the ability to use magic are nobles, and those that don't are the commoners that serve them?"

"Yes, that's how it's always been," Siesta replied.

Ryan…didn't like that notion one bit.

"_Typical of nobility, I hate that kind of thinking,"_ Wulf stated.

_Yes, but I have no intention of causing a revolution. If we do find a way back, I don't want to leave this place in flames because of some radical ideas,_ Ryan replied to the disembodied voice.

"_Do draw up plans for one in the event we are stuck here forever,"_ Wulf teased.

Ryan shivered at that thought. _Don't even joke._

"What's it like where you're from?" Siesta inquired.

Finding his pants sufficiently clean, Ryan ran them through the wringer and answered, "Our nobles are dead. Commoner warriors killed them a long time ago; they were more trouble than they were worth."

"_Nerd,"_ Wulf called out.

Siesta gasped at that revelation, but before she could inquire further Ryan stood up and bowed. "Well, it was nice talking to you Miss Siesta, have a good evening."

His damp clothes folded up, he got up and left the laundry room.

* * *

When Ryan returned to Louise's quarters he was happy that he didn't run into anyone on the way. Opening the door, he found her in the midst of dropping her nightgown down over her nude body.

Hearing the door open, she immediately turned and glared at him. "Knock first, you lout!"

"Mm, I apologize," Ryan said as he draped first his dried off pants and then his shirt over the back of a chair. Removing his belt and sword, he hung it off the back of the chair before taking a seat in it.

Getting the last of her exceptionally long hair from under her gown, Louise climbed into bed and slid under the sheets. Not that she cared, she most certainly didn't, but something seemed to have changed his attitude a little. "I'm going to sleep; you had better not try anything funny."

"It's not even the last thing on my mind," Ryan replied.

Raising her wand, Louise put out the candles in her room and lay down. As she got comfortable to dose off, however, Ryan spoke. "Are you going to leave because of this?"

What kind of question was that? "Of course not, I'm going to be a great mage one day, the greatest in the world."

And when she was, Louise was going to rub it in everyone's faces. Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière was going to be respected and admired, any reference to Zero will be nothing more than a silly memory!

"Good."

Louise sat up a bit, and stared at Ryan as he finished making himself as comfortable as he could in his chair. "What?"

He explained, "I heard about your trouble with magic, and I think it's cool that you've hung tough through this. Don't ever give up on being a great mage, okay?"

Well, that was nice of him. Lying back, Louise sighed and stared up at her ceiling. "Thank you. I won't give up, no matter what."

Ryan nodded, and smiled a little. "Good night."

"Good night." Louise pulled the sheets to her chest, and smiled a little bit. That was actually really nice of him, even if it was one little compliment.

In short order, she drifted off to sleep, and after she had begun gently snoring, Ryan opened one eye and sat up before reaching into one of the pockets in his belt and pulled out a black tablet PC. Hitting the power button, he sighed in relief when he saw it worked.

_I just remembered…_

He opened up the main screen of the tablet and began searching through the files. A while ago when he got the tablet, a close friend of his–ever the pragmatist–put this in his computer in the event that something akin to this happened. While it'd do Ryan little good, it did give him an idea to help Louise out a little with her school life.

"_There it is!"_ He smiled as he highlighted the name of the file, a simple image of a long list of items.

_**Hang this up in your Time Machine!**_

* * *

Down in the Library, Colbert scratched his gleaming bald head as he searched through yet another tome on ancient runes. In all the books he'd checked so far, there was no sign of an asterisk, not even in the elfin texts. What did it mean; he wondered as he put away one book and picked up another. Who was this young man that Louise summoned, and why an asterisk?

Letting out a sigh, Colbert opened the book and resumed researching.

* * *

A/N: Where is this young man from? So mysterious~. Please leave a review!


	3. The Left Hand of All Things

Disclaimer: I'm a crack writer trying to be serious. The fuck is wrong with me?

**Everything and Nothing  
**The Left Hand of All Things

_Zero = All.  
_

**[3.]**

It was just before dawn, when Louise awoke to find no sign of Ryan in her room. Peering around suspiciously, she turned and looked out the window where she spotted him standing in the courtyard, staring up at the sky. She frowned in annoyance and dropped back onto her bed, what kind of person is awake this early in the morning?

Outside, Ryan was struck by the sight in the sky overhead. Why hadn't he noticed it before? Still, it was an incredible sight to behold. Two moons, one larger than the other, with the smaller of the two a rosy pink.

"It has two moons… this world can't just be another parallel Earth," he whispered.

"_So we've stepped out of Fantasy and into Science Fiction, how intriguing,"_ Wulf noted.

Ryan shook his head. "I can be anywhere now. This is bad."

Wulf was reassuring. _"I wouldn't dwell too harshly on it. Extraordinarily improbable odds still come down to a yes or a no. Will we find our way home, Ryan?"_

Still staring at the moons, Ryan sighed and whispered. "…Yes."

"_Then buck up and remember to enjoy yourself! Where were we, then?"_

"Yeah, yeah…" The two moons distracted him, but Ryan was back on task. Taking his broadsword by the hilt, he unsheathed it, and held it skyward, the light of two moons gleaming off its blade. As Ryan stared up at the sword, he mused at how it seemed to split the smaller moon in two, before he lowered the blade and began practicing with it.

A couple of hours later, Louise woke up again to find Ryan writing things down in a notebook from some strange black device. Sitting up, she slipped her feet out of bed and stood up before walking over to him.

"What is that you're doing? What is that black thing?" She asked, inadvertently surprising Ryan.

He looked over to Louise, and then closed the book before sliding it and the tablet into his belt's pouch. "Don't worry yourself over it for now, Hermione."

Louise stared at him. "Hermione?"

Ryan waved his hand. "Forget about it, did you sleep well?"

She had, but Louise was more curious about that black object and what he was copying from it. "I slept well. You were up early, though."

"I'm used to it. In my world school starts at seven in the morning, and I have to be up at five thirty if I want to be ready for the day," Ryan replied.

"You still go to school? How old are you, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm seventeen."

Louise was surprised, she would've expected a little older than that.

"I see. Well if you're done with that, dress me," Louise ordered.

It was Ryan's turn to stare at her. "Huh?"

"The underwear is in the bottom drawer over there." She was even helpful enough to point to the dresser behind Ryan.

"You're a big girl, aren't you?" Ryan retorted in annoyance.

"Nobles will not dress themselves while there is a ready and able servant in front of them!" Louise snapped back.

Ryan then began looking around, curious. "Huh, I don't see a servant…"

He stopped and pointed at himself. "Wait, do you mean me?"

Louise pointed at her underwear drawer emphatically. Ryan stared back at her, and a few moments passed as they silently challenged one another to budge. Ryan then spoke.

"Dress yourself."

There was that uncomfortable feeling again, and Louise let out a strangled sound of frustration before she stomped past him. "You are useless as a familiar and as a commoner!"

Nope, he wasn't breaking that attitude of hers after one tiny compliment. On the other hand, volatile women were something he was used to at this point in his life. He let out a sigh and pleaded to God to give him strength, today was going to be another trial. God chuckled and did no such thing as Louise took off her nightgown right in front of him and threw it onto his lap.

"You can at least prepare that for washing later," she ordered.

"Uh huh…" He looked away. "Decency isn't really an issue with you, is it?"

Getting out a pair of panties, Louise turned to face him, arms akimbo and totally nude, and he completely turned the chair away from her. "You're a summoned familiar spirit, and they follow their master's orders without question."

"So that means what, exactly?"

Louise's eyebrow twitched. "That means I have no reason to be concerned for my state of dress around you, you're essentially the same level as a dog."

"Need I remind you again who the familiar here is in this relationship?" Ryan had lost his hold on his temper, and he realized his error too late.

Louise's face went red with anger. Marching up, she kicked the back of the chair with all her might, sending Ryan spilling out of it to the floor with a thump. When he rolled over, she stomped on his face. "Ow!"

She kept stomping on his face and chest. "You're the familiar! No matter how you slice it, I'm the one who summoned you! I'm the one who did the binding! I'm the mage! I'm the master! And you! Are! The! Commoner! Dog!"

Ryan had managed to protect his face, but for a tiny witch, Louise's stomping still hurt. When he lowered his arms from his face, he saw that hers was red with fury, but she was on the verge of breaking down and crying. Meeting his stare, Louise tensed up and kicked him in the head one more time for good measure before she started getting dressed.

Rubbing where she kicked him, Ryan closed his eyes and sighed.

Wulf immediately spoke up, _"Well, that was idiotic of you."_

"_Yeah."_

In moments Louise finished dressing, used a minor spell to freshen herself up, and then stomped out the door. "Hurry up, dog! I don't want to be late for breakfast!"

As she stormed out, Ryan raised his legs up, and sprung up onto his feet, before he turned and followed her out with his hands in the pockets of his sweater.

* * *

The dining hall of the Tristan Academy of Magic was seriously giving Ryan some Hogwarts Great Hall vibes, except there weren't magical projections of the sky and all manner of owls flying about. This was such a boring magical school, nothing like in the books, but the overpowering smell of gourmet food made up for it considerably.

As they walked down the row, the mockery of the Master/Familiar relationship did not go unnoticed. At another table, Kirche smiled and gestured aside to one of her friends, one Montmorency Margarita la Fère de Montmorency, a blonde girl with Victorian ringlets and the supposed lover of a certain fop.

"Look, its Zero Louise and her Master," she chided just loud enough for Louise to hear.

Montmorency hummed and then inquired, just loud enough as well. "Do you think someone should tell him that familiars aren't allowed in the dining hall during breakfast?"

Kirche giggled. "Oh, you're right!"

At their respective seats, both Guiche and Sticks noticed the arrival of Louise and Ryan, and focused their glares onto the latter. Louise, discreetly glancing towards both when she noticed them, could only wonder what the idiot had done to earn those dirty looks.

"Wow that smells pretty good, actually," Ryan said as they walked towards Louise's seat.

When he looked at the five-star spread at each individual spot, he smiled and his stomach growled. He hadn't eaten properly since yesterday, aside from some trail-mix he'd had along with him.

Louise glanced back at him. "Don't drool over food that isn't yours, and pull the chair out for me already."

He may as well, so he did for her. As Louise sat down, he noticed a small dirty, cracked, and chipped plate sitting on the floor between spots, and found it a little odd before pulling out another chair and taking the seat. "Thank goodness for breakfast, I don't think I can get by on trail-mix much longer."

Louise was staring at him in a mixture of annoyance and disgust. Staring back, he wondered what she was on about, before she pointed down at the cracked and chipped plate. Was she? Oh no. Oh, Hell no.

"This dining room is for nobles only," She all but snarled at him, "Be fortunate I'm letting you eat on the floor."

Ryan looked at the plate, and then at the spread set out in front of him, and he took a deep breath and began counting to ten. He made it only to three, and the banter in the dining hall came to an abrupt halt with the sound of the plate being shattered under Ryan's hiking boot.

Louise stared down at Ryan's boot, and then up at him, as he sat back down in the chair and pulled himself up to the table. "You… you…!"

She wasn't the only one staring, as nearly every gaze in the dining hall fell on Ryan. Picking up the knife and fork, he cut into the meat on the plate in front of him, stabbed the slice with his fork, and ate it. On tasting it, he hummed his approval and began eating in earnest.

"Hey, what is he doing?" A female student who hadn't heard of the incident yesterday inquired over the growing murmurs.

"Why is a commoner eating in here?" A male student asked.

"That's the one Louise summoned," another voice melted into the yammering, but not before Louise caught it.

"Hey, we haven't even given our blessings!" yet another loudly complained.

Ryan ignored it, and Louise's intensifying glare. The meat, it tasted like lamb, and it was of excellent quality. The soup as well, and the bread, and even the fruit was at the peak of freshness. Combined with his hunger and spite, Ryan made short work of the spread before him like a starving man with proper etiquette, and finished it all by drinking down the glass of fruit juice at his side.

"Ah, that's much better," he declared as he picked up the napkin and wiped his mouth, "I haven't had a meal that good since my dad last came home from a tour."

Louise punched him. "Ow! Hey!"

"I don't believe you! How dare you besmirch this school? Commoners aren't even allowed to set foot in this place unless they're servants, and you're seated at the table, eating the food of another student, without even praying to Brimir, no less!" she yelled as she stood up and pounded on him with tiny fists of indignation.

Ryan, managing to block her blows with a raised arm, got up and backed away from her. That was it. "Hey! You brought me in here, and for what? You were going to make me eat off the floor like a damn dog!"

"It was so you could learn your place, finally!" Louise yelled back at him. "You're not going back to wherever you call home! I summoned you here and you will obey me and you will eat from the floor like the dirt commoner you are!"

Ryan's patience broke. "Shut up, you no-rate dwarf witch, I'm done being the punching bag for all your insecurity issues! So take all four feet of you and get out of my sight until I even want to look at you again!"

Gasps went around, as Louise recoiled in shock. Right on the heels of that flare of anger was immediate regret when he saw the look on her face.

Wulf almost cheerily chimed in, _"Well, you've certainly done it now."_

He certainly had. Tears forming in Louise's eyes and racing down her cheeks, she shoved Ryan and ran out of the dining hall. As the doors swung closed, Ryan sighed and reached behind him to scratch at his back.

"Well…it's not the worst morning I've ever had, but it's up there." He lamented.

"You should leave," A quiet voice behind him said, and he turned to face another short witch girl with blue hair and a staff bigger than she was. She didn't appear upset so much as simply giving good advice.

"Huh?" He slowly nodded and then headed for the door. "You're right, sorry for the commotion."

"Don't be," she said as he passed her. As he walked out, Kirche and Montmorency joined the quiet witch's side.

"That commoner is very bold, don't you think Tabitha?" Kirche asked her frosty friend.

"I don't know," Tabitha replied.

Ryan walked out of the dining hall's building and onto the courtyard, where he found no sign of Louise. Wherever she ran off to, he was probably the last person she wanted to see anyway so he decided to sit down on the steps in lieu of seeking her out. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his notebook.

"I'll let her cool off, and then apologize," he said to himself. He needed to cool off, too.

* * *

In the office of Tristan Academy of Magic's headmaster, said headmaster was hard at work…sexually harassing his hapless secretary, Miss Longville. Well, he was trying to, she wasn't having any of it and was almost literally stomping a mud-hole in his backside when the door opened and a weary but excited Colbert entered.

"Old Osmond, I hate to interrupt but–!" He stopped when he caught the scene between headmaster and secretary. "Am I interrupting…?"

Miss Longville quickly removed her foot from Osmond's backside. "No, not at all, as Old Osmond's secretary I'm responsible for his health. He was complaining of a sore hip, so I thought I'd massage it for him, yes…"

"I see," Colbert said as Osmond got up and hobbled to his desk. It looked like there was a lot of him sorer than his hip, now.

Quickly shaking his head, Colbert stayed on task. "Sir, I wanted to discuss something important with you, pertaining to the summoning gone wrong yesterday?"

Miss Longville, now seated at her tiny desk, began to file away papers, or rather pretended to as she paid rapt attention to the discussion. Colbert set some books down as Old Osmond took his seat.

"Yesterday when Miss Vallière was bound to her familiar, there was a symbol I never saw before, a five-pointed asterisk. I've looked through every text on runes and symbols I could find in but there's nothing in regards to an asterisk, not even in the elfin texts," Colbert explained as he handed Old Osmond a notebook showing a drawing of the symbol on Louise's hand.

Old Osmond took the notebook and examined the symbol, and his normally twinkling eyes narrowed. It was appeared so primitive, inelegant, and simple; almost a stark contrast to the symbols and runes that dominated magic and its study, and it was that simplicity that gave him cause for concern.

"Mr. Colbert, I'd like to see Miss Vallière and her summon," he said.

Colbert hummed. "Do you suppose there is something the matter?"

"I don't think there is anything wrong yet, but I have some questions for the boy," Old Osmond replied.

"As you wish sir," Colbert said before he turned for the door. "Breakfast should be ending, so I'll fetch them right away."

Soon as he was gone, Old Osmond produced his pipe and levitated some tobacco into it before using a spark of flame to light it. Just as he was to take a puff from it, however, it levitated from his hand and into Miss Longville's.

He sighed. "Taking away one of the few pleasures that an old man like me has left, Miss Longville?"

"As your secretary, I'm responsible for your health," She turned her head and gave him a dangerous look. "Good or ill."

Sufficiently intimidated, Old Osmond decided that maybe quitting was the best idea for him.

* * *

The ringing bell and the students beginning to move about the grounds told Ryan that breakfast was ending. Louise probably had a chance to cool off by now, so it was a matter of finding her. Getting up, he walked around the perimeter of the building housing the dining hall, and found her right away.

Around the side were the familiars of the rest of Louise's grade-level, and sitting against the wall was Louise with her legs drawn to her chest and her face buried in her folded arms. Letting out a soft sigh, he walked over and leaned against the wall, directly next to her.

"I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry," He said to her. He wasn't going to apologize for eating that food however, he still had his pride.

"It doesn't matter," Louise snapped back.

"I think it does, I embarrassed you in front of everyone, back there."

Louise continued sniffling. "I'm already an embarrassment, never has a mage become the familiar before, that shouldn't even be possible. I've gone beyond zero; I'll never be taken seriously again."

She lifted her head up and wiped her eyes before looking around at the other familiars. "I give up; I'm going to arrange to return home. I'm nothing but a worthless familiar to a worthless commoner."

Ryan ignored that last bit. "The way I see it, quitting will only prove the people who keep calling you Zero were right. Then you'll just be a funny story your classmates talk about."

Louise tensed at that, and sighed miserably. "Let them say what they want, I don't care anymore."

He let out a sigh of his own. "I'm serious, you don't want to just quit like this."

At that moment, the other students arrived for their familiars. Seeing Kirche and her little clique approach, Louise got up. "I'm going back to my room."

Ryan was ready to follow her, when Guiche called out, "Hey! Ryan Ingram!"

When he turned, he found a rose pointed in his face. "Can I help you?"

"As a matter of fact, there is much to discuss regarding your faux pas in the dining hall today." Guiche said forcefully as he drew back his rose.

"Is that so?" Ryan asked as Louise buried her face in her hands. Of course, he wasn't getting away so easily for what he'd done.

Several other male students gathered around, as Guiche spoke. "Louise was kind enough to bring you to our hallowed dining hall, and in return you insult and humiliate her, and rudely carried about as you pleased in front of the rest of us. As a man and as a noble, I cannot allow that to simply pass."

Ryan dropped his shoulders. "Is that all? Well I apologize, I don't want any trouble."

Guiche then waved his rose from side to side. "Ah, ah, ah, if it were that easy then I'd be letting you off the hook, but for making a beautiful girl cry and besmirching our school and its traditions, I demand something stronger than a mere nonchalant apology."

He didn't have the patience for this. Still, Ryan humored him. "Oh, and what would be acceptable?"

"You will kneel first before Miss Vallière and apologize for humiliating her," Guiche said, "And then you shall kneel before us and apologize for the insolence of forgetting your place. That is acceptable, yes?"

Ryan's brow furrowed at that. While he respected the fop's attempt at cheering Louise up, he was getting tired of this holier-than-thou noble act. Before he could say anything, it was Kirche who stepped in. "Hey, Guiche, is that really necessary?"

Guiche looked over to Kirche. "Kirche, Montmorency, Tabitha…please step aside, this is a matter between men."

Wait, his name was what? Ryan stared at the fop.

"A matter between men, or are you showing off?" Montmorency demanded.

Sticks spoke up, "Are you trying to defend the commoner?"

"Of course not, but he said he apologized, didn't he?" Kirche argued, causing Sticks and several other boys to sputter a bit.

Ryan remembered something both terrible and funny, and he couldn't hold in his laugh. Guiche turned to look at him. "Oh? What's so funny this time?"

Louise looked up, as Ryan tried to remind himself that this was a different society, but he couldn't help himself. "Your name is _Guiche_?"

"Why yes, I am Guiche de Gramont. What is it to you?" Ryan broke into uncontrolled laughter. "Hey! What's so funny?"

God, it was so wrong, but at the same time, it couldn't be more right. Ryan leaned against the wall, laughing at what sounded like the biggest joke in the world. When he finally stopped, he looked at Guiche.

For all of a second, before he said "Guiche" again and resumed laughing.

"Ryan!" Louise cried out, when Guiche's face flashed with anger.

"Hey! First you made fun of my flirting and now you mock my name? What kind of devil are you?" Guiche yelled at him, setting off another angry reaction, this time from Montmorency.

"Flirting?" Montmorency growled as she seemed to just slide into position at Guiche's side.

Guiche turned to Montmorency, his indignation diminished by his lover's far more frightening presence. Ryan, still laughing, then spoke up. "Oh, he was flirting with some girl last night named Katie."

Montmorency became even more furious. "You were flirting with a first year!"

Guiche held up his hands submissively. When did this become about him all of a sudden? "Montmorency, listen, it wasn't like that at all! I…he…"

He needed to salvage this, or he was cooked. He turned and pointed to Ryan, who had stopped laughing, but was plenty amused by this. "How dare you slander me?"

"I have no reason to lie," Ryan said as he folded his arms.

Of course he did, he had plenty reason, but Louise and the other students said nothing, this was turning out so strangely that they couldn't help but watch the situation degrade dramatically.

Guiche wore a dangerous smile as he attempted to assert himself. "For this disgrace, my blood is boiling. A commoner, who eats at the place of nobles, insults them to their face, and attempts to spread slander about them cannot be forgiven!"

He pointed his rose at the sword on Ryan's hip. "You fancy yourself a swordsman with that ornament on your hip, do you not?"

He then pointed the rose at his face. "I challenge you to a duel then, I will sort your crass attitude out myself!"

Louise quickly attempted to step in. "Ryan, take back what you said!"

"I accept," Ryan said instead, and Louise grabbed his arm and shook him.

"What do you think you're doing? Even with a sword you won't win against a noble!" Louise warned Ryan.

Ryan gave Louise a look, and then turned back to Guiche. "I don't intend to duel him."

Louise sighed. "Well that's good–"

"I have a familiar to do it for me," he finished.

Louise stopped while the crowd gathering around him, Guiche, and Montmorency, all recoiled in surprise. Gasping, Louise grabbed Ryan this time by his collar and pulled him down to her level. "NOBLES CANNOT DUEL! IT'S ILLEGAL!"

Ryan stood upright, lifting Louise off her feet as she continued to hold on. "It'll be fine; besides, you don't want to be seen as a Zero anymore do you? Beat this blowhard for me and gain some pride."

He wanted her to prove herself in a duel against another student? Louise let go and dropped to her feet. He was trying to help her regain her confidence, and he seemed to think she could do it, too. That weird feeling returned, but it wasn't frustrating or twisting like before, it was uplifting, filling her with confidence that she could beat Guiche, kind of like her own reassurances whenever she attempted a spell.

Nodding, she turned to face Guiche. "Guiche de Gramont, I, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, accept your challenge as the Familiar Spirit of Ryan Ingram! Prepare yourself!"

* * *

Pushing a cart of tea and cakes down the path towards where the second year students would be bonding with their familiars, Siesta was thinking about her run in with the boy from another world and his revelation.

"_Our nobles are dead. Commoner warriors killed them a long time ago; they were more trouble than they're worth."_

That had been a joke, right? It worried her a little, was that man dangerous? He appeared so nice. When she reached the tables where the second year students were supposed to be, she found only a few first and third year students on their way towards the main courtyard.

"Ah? Where is everyone?"

A first year, carrying a soufflé in a box, hurried past. Quickly, Siesta called after her. "Miss, where is everyone going?"

"Guiche is about to duel the commoner who caused a commotion in the dining hall this morning!" Katie said excitedly to Siesta. The first year student was eager to see her beloved Guiche in battle.

"Oh goodness, this is terrible!" she said as she abandoned the cart followed the girl.

When she reached the courtyard, Siesta was dismayed to see that the crowd had already swelled and formed a ring around the two combatants. Siesta's apprehension skyrocketed when she saw that the commoner boy was on the sidelines, but it was Louise about to duel Guiche!

She quickly made her way over to Ryan's side, as Louise was practicing some wand strokes. "Mr. Ingram, what is going on? Why is Miss Vallière facing Mr. Gramont?"

"Guiche challenged me, and I accepted, I'm just fighting with my familiar," Ryan replied.

Siesta recoiled in shock at this, and then looked to Louise. "Oh dear, this is terrible…"

Guiche showed his own apprehension about dueling Louise. "Louise, you said so yourself, duels between nobles are illegal, don't fight for the man who insulted you!"

"I am a Familiar Spirit. Those rules do not apply to me, so are we going to duel or not?" Louise replied.

Ryan narrowed his eyes a little bit. He'd been noticing a particular pattern for a while now, and it was becoming clear to him. Still, he called out to Guiche. "You can back out, I'd prefer if you did."

Guiche was in a tough spot. On one hand, he didn't want to look like a coward before a commoner, but on the other hand, he wasn't exactly sure about the legality of a duel against a Noble Familiar Spirit.

Back on the sidelines, Kirche was just as perplexed about this gray area. "Hey Tabitha, would this be considered illegal, or what?"

"It's too loud," Tabitha quietly complained over Montmorency demanding that Guiche stand down from this madness.

As Louise waited for Guiche to stop waffling and commence the duel, she couldn't help but wonder herself if she could actually do this. Guiche specialized in Earth Magic, while she… well… she could make explosions. Well, she had at least that, but she didn't want to hurt him.

_I will just have to try,_ Louise thought to herself, before she did as she normally did in order to cast a spell. She closed her eyes, and felt out for the magic to summon it to her use.

"Montmorency, I can't back down, I made the challenge and the commoner accepted!" Guiche called out.

Kirche then offered an insight, "He's still your opponent, Guiche! Just aim for him and not the familiar and you're fine!"

Guiche blinked, and then smiled. What an excellent point! "Thank you, Kirche!"

Holding up his rose, Guiche called out. "I, Guiche the Bronze, and this lowly commoner shall commence our duel!"

He pointed his rose at Louise. "I have no intention of harming you, Miss Vallière, so stand aside!"

"I am the Familiar Spirit; I am his weapon for this duel, so duel!" Louise answered as she readied her wand.

"Very well, I shall do my best not to harm you and end this match quickly," Guiche said, before he pointed his rose to Ryan.

"Did you hear that? I shall grant you no quarter!" Guiche said before a flick of his wrist shed several petals from his rose. Watching them fall to the ground, Ryan tightened his grip on the sword when they gave off flashes of light and pulled from the ground several spear-armed statues made of bronze.

"Meet the Bronze Golem Valkyries! Are they not beautiful?" Guiche asked.

When Ryan didn't reply Guiche continued, "Well, whether you like them or not, they will be your opponent."

He looked away and pointed his rose at Ryan. "Go, attack the master, but do avoid harming his Familiar!"

Tabitha had been trying to tune out the noise about her by covering her ears. When Louise pointed her want at Guiche, however, her focus snapped right onto her, just as Ryan's did. The asterisk mark on her left hand began to glow an alarming red.

_That's not good! _Ryan realized before he called out to Louise. "Louise, wait!"

It was too late, Louise called out to the magic that she had always known, but something entirely different responded. Rather than pull power towards her, the power surged up through her, drowning all of her senses in what she could only describe as pure, unbridled force.

The surge of magic flared from Louise, creating a shockwave that knocked everyone within fifty feet of her to the ground. Only Louise and the Bronze Golems remained standing.

Kirche was one of the first to quickly sit up, and stared at Louise, as did the other students. The young mage turned familiar's hair, skirt, and cloak was blown upward by the draft of power emanating from every inch of her body.

"L-Louise?" Kirche murmured, before Tabitha violently shoved her off. "Hey!"

Guiche also got up, and stared at Louise. "Louise…?"

Dropping her wand, Louise raised her left hand, and pointed it at the Bronze Golems. All three golems then went rigid, and began shaking, as though held in a powerful invisible grip. Louise then closed her hand, and before everyone's shocked eyes, the sturdy golems smashed together and crumpled like into a round, warped hunk of bronze.

The backlash of the spell tore away the sleeve of Louise's uniform and part of her cloak, leaving it ragged. This shockwave went on to further buffet those who had managed to stand up.

"_Damn she's tapped into it, and gone too deep!"_ Wulf warned Ryan,

_I can see that! _Ryan responded.

Guiche stared at his ruined golems in complete terror, and then back at Louise, who was now giving him the same blank, wide-eyed look she had given his golem before she crushed it. When she unclenched her fist and pointed her hand at him, he screamed like a girl and turned to flee.

Instead of grabbing him however, Louise said something that was lost in the ambient roar of power, and the spectators could all see the air itself warp as it was displaced by the invisible force she hurled towards Guiche and the students he had been running towards.

A hastily summoned wall of thick solid ice, however, managed to stop the blast, but shattered in the process. Holding her staff out, Tabitha quickly unleashed a wind spell next, creating a tornado that swept up Louise and spun her into the air, hopefully to get her away from the other students before she hurt anyone.

"Tabitha!" Kirche gasped, before she realized that it was time for action and drew her wand.

Tabitha nodded to Kirche. "I cannot hold her for long."

"Miss Vallière!" Siesta cried out as she got up.

Ryan grabbed her by the shoulder as he watched the tornado hold Louise in place. "Get a teacher or something, go!"

Looking at Ryan, Siesta nodded and fled with the other students racing to escape the chaos. When she did, he drew his broadsword. This was quickly approaching a worst-case scenario. "I don't want to do this…"

The tornado suddenly fell apart, revealing a very angry Louise staring down at Tabitha and Kirche. Neither mage waited for Louise to respond, with Kirche unleashing a fireball spell while Tabitha unleashed a water jet spell that both crashed into a barrier that formed around the now levitating familiar mage.

"Not good," Tabitha said before Louise aimed her hand at them.

"Tabitha!" Kirche yelled as she grabbed Tabitha and dove clear of the invisible spell that flattened the ground where they had stood. The shockwave knocked both to the ground, and Kirche looked up as Louise prepared to attack again.

However, another Bronze Golem, having leaped into the air to attack ineffectually at the barrier, diverted her attention. Kirche and Tabitha looked over to Guiche, who was now standing by the school's outer wall a distance from everyone else, knees trembling as he tried to look heroic in the face of unbelievable danger.

Kirche called to him, "Thank you Guiche!"

"This is our duel, is it not?" Guiche demanded. Terrifying as this was increasingly becoming, he had to get Louise away from the other students, especially Montmorency! "C-come down here… and f-fight me…!"

Louise raised her arm, and threw the golem back like a missile at Guiche, who screamed again and raised his arms to protect his face. Before the golem could hit, and do a lot more harm than to just his face, however, a fast moving blur got between them and Guiche heard the sound of steel shearing through bronze.

The golem hit the ground in two pieces on both sides of Guiche, and he looked up to see Ryan standing in front of him, the sword he wore on his hip now in his hands.

Kirche was surprised. Hadn't that boy been standing over with that servant girl all the way back here?

"Ingram!" Guiche gasped after he lowered his arms.

Ryan called up to Louise, "Louise! Stop this!"

Louise didn't respond, but rather prepared to attack. "She's far too deep into it… she can't hear me!"

Guiche looked between Ryan and Louise. "What is she into, Ingram?"

Ryan didn't answer, he grabbed Guiche and suddenly everything was a blur for the blonde noble before he was suddenly atop the school's wall. There was an incredible din behind him, and when he looked back he saw that the wall and a long swath of land behind it had been gouged out, forming a trench.

How did he get up here so quickly? He looked to Ryan, who was watching Louise as she descended to just above the missing section of wall. Back in the courtyard, Kirche was awestruck by Louise's strength, and by the apparent commoner's speed. She hadn't even seen him move, he was one moment in the path of that terrible power, and then suddenly safe atop the wall.

"…What on Earth is going on?" She asked, as she watched the confrontation grow tenser.

Tabitha regarded the scene with her usual apparent aloofness, but her attention was locked on Ryan.

The backwash from her spell had destroyed much of Louise's clothes and left her cloak almost completely shredded. She didn't appear aware of it or anything else as she set her feet down on the wall and stared all but through Ryan at Guiche.

"She's looking at me," the foppish boy noted.

Ryan nodded. "She's trying to fight the duel."

"In that case, I give up! I surrender, you win!" Guiche said, "Now call her off!"

"I was about to," Ryan said as Louise raised her hand again and aimed it at Guiche.

Guiche stepped back when he felt the same updraft that was around Louise begin manifesting around Ryan. Whatever it was he was about to do, he did not want to be party to it, and quickly turned to flee. This, however, was a mistake, as Louise immediately fired another spell that tore apart the top of the wall as it barreled towards him and Ryan.

In that same instant, Ryan raised his sword, and was gone.

Kirche and Tabitha, and the students who hadn't evacuated saw it all. The advancing blast, and the airborne debris it launched, were suddenly thrown right back at Louise. As Mr. Colbert arrived with Siesta and several other teachers, the courtyard was quiet except for the last few falling rocks.

Ryan had struck Louise hard in the stomach with the hilt of his sword, knocking the wind out of her and dispelling the awesome power that had possessed her. Letting the sword fall to the ground, he caught Louise as she fell forward, unconscious and completely nude except for her cloak.

"He stopped her," Kirche said in relief.

Mr. Colbert looked at the destruction, sharing his amazement with the other teachers. "My word…this is worse than before."

The walls of the academy were especially strong, this was just uncanny.

Ryan and Guiche had gotten down from the wall with the aid of a levitation spell from the latter. Ryan had Louise carefully wrapped in what was left of her cloak, to preserve her modesty, and had sheathed his sword. Mr. Colbert quickly rushed over to the two young men.

"Mr. Ingram, Siesta told me of the duel, is Miss Vallière alright?" He demanded worriedly.

Ryan nodded and looked down at the unconscious girl. "Yeah, she just needs rest. She'll be fine."

Mr. Colbert looked around. "Did she do this?"

Ryan nodded again. "She did…"

This was bad, really bad. The cat was completely out of the bag now, and there was no way he could try to hide it. He gave Colbert a pointed look. "I have a lot of explaining to do. Can you take me to whoever is in charge here?"

"I had actually come looking for you for that reason when Siesta alerted me." Mr. Colbert replied before he turned to one of the teachers, Mrs. Chevreuse. "Mrs. Chevreuse, you and the other teachers round up the other students and get this cleaned up, I'm going to take Mr. Ingram and Louise to the infirmary and then to Old Osmond."

As the aforementioned teacher nodded and began instructing the students to leave the courtyard, Colbert led Ryan away. Siesta, watched them go, worried about the well-being of Louise, before she quickly made herself useful to assist with cleaning up.

"Tabitha… that man…" Kirche said quietly, as Tabitha watched them leave as well.

Tabitha looked back to Kirche, who let out a very pleased sound and smiled. "…I want him."

Looking at her staff, Tabitha decided to not hit her best friend upside the head with it, and followed the other students off the court yard.

* * *

It was the end of the day, the sun was going down, and Ryan was in the office of Old Osmond, with Louise and Colbert both present. In the end, while there was a lot of demolition and unintended landscaping; no one was hurt–although a few students needed a clean pair of underwear, namely Guiche.

Because of the sensitivity of the situation, Old Osmond had sent Miss Longville out and appeared quite serious. Ryan, however, could not get it out of his head that he looked like Gandalf and Dumbledore combined.

_Why are all these top magicians old guys with huge beards?_ Ryan wondered to Wulf.

Wulf understood Ryan's sentiments. _"I'd prefer a beautiful woman, myself, yes. Now do focus."_

Louise was staring out the window of Old Osmond's office; she hadn't said a word since she'd woken up a little while ago. She was still trying to come to grips to what she had experienced and almost done.

Old Osmond decided to open with an assurance. "No one was hurt and the damage to the school's wall can be fixed with ease today, but you and Miss Vallière still caused quite a commotion today."

Ryan nodded as Louise glanced back to the conversation. Though she showed no sign of it, she dreaded what was to happen to her now.

"However, because of the very special circumstances involved, I will take no disciplinary action against either of you, neither for the duel nor for the damage done."

"Circumstances?" Ryan asked, despite his relief. Louise relaxed as well.

"Yes, in addition to the special nature of yours and Louise's contract, I have concerns about your safety and that of those around you. It'd be wiser to keep you here in the school."

Ryan understood that perfectly. These kids could handle themselves pretty well, all things considered. This was definitely no Hogwarts. "It's for the best to keep us out of trouble."

"Yes, Miss Vallière is an unthinkable case. A mage becoming a familiar has never happened before in our six thousand year history, the same for the summoning of a commoner man clearly not from this world. If we're to figure this mess out, we'll need both of you alive and in one piece," Old Osmond explained, showing off a shrewdness that surprised even Colbert.

Louise finally spoke up, "How can there be another world? Is there really such a thing?"

She looked at her hand as she asked this, and the black asterisk that marked it like an ugly blemish.

"There's no reason to believe otherwise, Miss Vallière," Old Osmond replied, "The boy is clearly from no known place on our world. Additionally, Mr. Colbert has extensively scoured the school's library in search of any reference to the rune on your hand and found nothing of it. It is, in effect… alien."

Old Osmond looked from Louise to Ryan. "This brings me to my question for you, Mr. Ingram. When Louise became possessed by that magic, you recognized and dealt with it accordingly. You know what that magic is and are skilled in its use, aren't you?"

Louise's eyes widened as she stared at Ryan. Colbert was just as shocked at the implication, not just a human summoning…but a mage from another world?

With all eyes in the room on him, Ryan took a deep breath and removed his sweater. "Yes, that magic's from my world."

He then removed the t-shirt he wore underneath and draped it over the chair as well. "The rune on Louise's hand is the mark of one of the five forces of magic from my world. I know a lot about it, more than anyone should."

Ryan then turned his back to the three. Colbert let out a "My word!" while Old Osmond sat up in his chair, surprised.

Louise covered her mouth and gasped when she saw the horrific, asterisk-shaped scar burned into Ryan's back.

* * *

A/N: The mystery deepens.


	4. The Mage from another World

Disclaimer: I'm not on crack, that's what the fuck is wrong with me.

**Everything and Nothing**  
The Mage from another World

_And the Magic he brought with him_

**[4.]**

"Magic is a very recent thing in my world, we've only had it for a decade or so but we have a good understanding of how it works. There are the four principle elements, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, but there is a fifth one as well that we've come to call Aether. It represents the energy that drives life and powers the magic in our world." Ryan explained as he turned away, sparing the others the sight of the scar.

Old Osmond hummed. "And the scar on your back and the rune on Miss Vallière's hand is a symbol of the Aether, isn't it?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes. When I was little, I was taken and used in a ritual to summon a powerful being into my world. But it was improperly done and I was able to get away."

Louise was struck; she couldn't imagine how anyone could take such agony, or how anyone could do that to another person, especially a little boy.

"Used as a sacrifice, how barbaric," Colbert said, appalled at the notion.

"And because of the ritual, you can tap into Aether Magic," Old Osmond presumed.

"That's correct," Ryan said as he finished putting his t-shirt back on and grabbed his sweater.

Old Osmond nodded slowly. "Then it must've been what caused the spell to backfire onto Louise. It does not explain how she could use the magic from your world."

Getting his sweater back on, Ryan looked over to Louise, who quickly looked away from him. He then turned his attention back to Old Osmond. "I guess when that binding contract reversed on her; it connected her to the Aether like the ritual did me."

Colbert looked between Ryan and Louise, and then to Old Osmond. "A sixth element existing in a world where there have only been five, there's no telling what kind of consequences this may have. Why, just Mr. Ingram and Miss Vallière existing in this world as Aether Magic Users could be undoing the fabric of reality as we speak!"

"Reality is a lot more durable than that. Believe me, I know," Ryan said.

"Indeed. If the existence of a sixth element was such a problem, then the universe would've ripped itself apart the moment he arrived," Old Osmond said with a chuckle.

He then spoke to Ryan, "As this magic is clearly powerful and dangerous, we will keep it secret for now. I would also like for you to train Miss Vallière in its use, so that she can control her newfound power and prevent a repeat of today."

"You mean… make him my teacher?" Louise asked.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "Being a student is better than being a familiar, right?"

Louise glared at him for bringing it up, but he quickly added. "Besides, you can learn to control a very powerful magic that you can actually use, you won't be Louise the Zero anymore."

The thought softened her glare, and she cast her gaze downward. Sure, she'd still be his familiar, but was that so bad anymore? He was a mage and not a commoner, he could teach her to control powerful magic, and she could become the greatest Mage who ever lived, just like she wanted. She'd be able to shut up everyone who called her Zero, once and for all.

She looked back up at Ryan, and then nodded. "It is better than being a familiar, yes."

Old Osmond smiled. "Good! Good! Mr. Colbert, I ask you to continue your research."

Alleviated of his fear of reality coming apart at the seams, Colbert all but leaped at this. "Yes, of course! While the universe is still intact, there are so many mysteries to unlock! Who would've thought that this boring old magic of ours would come up with something new?"

"_I'd like to do some research myself." _Wulf whispered in Ryan's mind.

_What is it?_ Ryan asked.

"_Well, as we're staying here for a while, you should learn all you can about this place. Make use of its library and explore this world's 'six thousand year history'."_

At that, Ryan understood Wulf's curiosity. He bowed his head politely to Old Osmond. "Ah, if we're done here…?"

"Yes, of course. You may return to your room Mr. Ingram, Miss Vallière." Old Osmond said, and Ryan and Louise both quickly left the room.

As they hurried down the stairs, they nearly knocked over Miss Longueville, who had been coming up them. Both barely noticed her, with Ryan issuing a quick pardon as they went on. It was for the best, they would've noticed she was catching her breath from fleeing Old Osmond's door before their exit.

Watching both go, she adjusted her glasses and hummed.

A new magic, they said, and there was a ritual to access it? That was interesting.

* * *

In her room, Louise was a lot less acerbic as she stripped out of her clothes and dressed herself in her nightgown and panties. Ryan was sitting at the table, using his notes as an excuse to avoid looking at her as she changed. It was as Louise finished changing, and put away her dirty clothes for washing, that she finally spoke.

"Why did you hide that you were a mage? You could've avoided trouble with Guiche if you said so," she asked.

"I'm probably nine-hundred trillion light-years from home in a strange universe. I reserve the right to play my hand close to my chest."

Louise stared at him. "So you're far from home, you still could've saved yourself the trouble!"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Even if I did say I was a mage, would you have believed me?"

"Well if you used some of your own magic in the duel instead of trying to prop me up, maybe you would've gotten it across to everyone," Louise argued.

"I was trying to help you."

"Yes it was very helpful."

Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes back up to the ceiling. "Yeah, that was a mistake. But don't blame me; I didn't know that would happen."

Louise wanted to snap at him for that, but she just let a frustrated sound and plopped herself down on the bed. It was useless to take her anger out on him, he was her master, and teacher… lashing out would just make this even more difficult. Still, she had to know.

"Why do you find nobles so repulsive?" She asked.

Ryan snorted. "Because the nobles I've had to deal with since I got here are obnoxious children who throw around their status like it gives them the right to be assholes."

Louise was, of course, offended. "That's unfair! You're the one acting like… like the asshole!"

Ryan got up. "I'm going to sleep outside. We're going to start early tomorrow, so make sure you sleep the whole night."

It looked like it was going to be a nice night, and he wasn't interested in verbally bashing the term "Noblesse Oblige" into the tiny girl's skull right now.

Louise laid herself down, and huffed. Her entire Voidday was going to be spent doing more learning. "Fine, go sleep outside. I hope it rains, idiot!"

Ryan just waved back as he walked out of the room, and slammed the door behind him. Louise pulled the covers over herself and let out an angry huff.

* * *

Free of that obnoxious girl and her obnoxious attitude, Ryan made straight for the stairs and outside. The whole reason he went out into the wilderness (before he ended up here) was to enjoy some damned solitude, and damn it he was going to enjoy some.

Damn it.

When he reached the stairs, however, he found himself staring at what he could only describe as a quadruped Charmeleon that stared right back at him.

"Okay, what do you want?" Ryan asked as he stared at the creature.

It was obviously a familiar, and it was looking for him, given that it nodded and turned around before heading up the stairs to the next floor. It looked back, and tilted its head, beckoning for him to follow. Letting out a sigh, Ryan followed it upstairs, to see where it wanted him to go. Maybe whoever owned it wanted something important.

When it led him to another student's door, Ryan performed an about face. "Nope."

The Charmeleon looking thing then pounced, tackling him to the ground and grabbing him by the hood of his sweater before dragging him into the darkened bedroom. All the way, he struggled against it. "Let go of me you bootleg pokémon, HEY!"

Letting him go, the familiar quickly got away, avoiding a swipe to its snout from Ryan. "Now that what the Hell is going… on…?"

He stopped and stared when he saw Kirche standing in front of him, framed perfectly in the moonlit window of her bedroom, wearing lingerie, and giving him a torturously sexy look.

"_Finally, something fun to do."_ Wulf chimed in.

Ryan ignored the voice in his head, as Kirche spoke. "Welcome to my bedroom, Ryan Ingram."

He didn't want to stare, but it was pretty apparent that Kirche wanted him to stare, so he at least tried not to drool. "Thank you, um…"

Wulf chimed in again, _"I believe her name is Kirche, but I don't blame you for not remembering her name, she never gave it herself and good heaven that girl is healthy."_

Ryan wholeheartedly agreed, as Kirche gave her name. "Sorry, I haven't given you the courtesy. My name is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst… but I am better known as Kirche the Fervent. It may sound a little dirty, but I am like a torch, you see? I'm easy to turn on, and I burn hotly."

"I see." Well it was pretty obvious why she had him dragged here. He was a little more forgiving towards her pokémon thing now.

Kirche sashayed over to him, and then knelt down to his level. "The way you handled yourself out there today, it left me speechless. I became overwhelmed with passion!"

She took his hand, and stared into his eyes, yearning. "You've set me aflame, Ryan Ingram."

Just as Kirche leaned in to kiss him, however, the windows to her bedroom opened and both she and Ryan looked to find Sticks floating in the window. Wait, floating?

"Kirche, you didn't show up on time so I-" Sticks stopped when he saw Ryan and Kirche's state of dress.

"Oh, sorry Sticks, can we reschedule for two hours from now, then?" Kirche asked, and that put Ryan right out of the mood.

_Two hours?_ He wondered.

"_Ah, she's one of those girls," _Wulf observed.

"Two hours from now? That's not what you said!" Sticks complained, and received a burning candle snake to the face for his trouble.

And Ryan was yearning for solitude again. "Is he going to be okay?"

Kirche looked back to him. "Oh, he'll be fine. He's had worse done to him."

She leaned forward to kiss him. "But let's not worry about that…"

"Kirche!" another young man, this time some blonde pretty boy, shouted.

Ryan could hear Wulf howling with laughter in his head.

"Who is that man? I thought we were going to have a hot night–AHH!"

He was certainly having himself a hot one now, as he caught a burning wax snake to the chest.

_Why am I still here?_ As made of sex as Kirche was, she was doing everything she could to ensure that nothing resembling it happened tonight. "I suppose he's pretty tough too, right?"

"That's right," Kirche replied. "But let's not dwell, the night is short and I don't want to waste my time with you."

"_Indeed, she's on a tight schedule,"_ Wulf mocked.

"Kirche!"

This time three young men trying to muscle past one another shouted as one, "You said you didn't have a boyfriend!"

And she wasn't going to have one anytime soon. Ryan looked around; at least she was out of candles.

Kirche tried to assuage them. "Monaco, Ajax, Gimli…if you'd wait a few hours…"

"It'll be morning by then!" all three protested.

Kirche looked over to her familiar. "Flame?"

The Charmeleon looking thing sat up, and used Flamethrower on the three suitors, sending them crashing to the ground outside. In the room directly below Kirche's, Louise sat up and stared at the window as the three burning young men fell past.

"Zerbst must be having another hot night," She derided, before she lay back down and went back to sleep.

Back upstairs, Kirche turned back to Ryan, but he was already going for the door. She quickly jumped up to her feet after him. "Ah! Ryan, wait!"

Ryan looked back to her. "I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. I really should be getting to sleep; I have a lot to do tomorrow and…"

"Forget about that." Kirche pleaded. "Please… stay with me?"

She gave him doe eyes, a yearning look that conveyed a very real desire to want to be with him… and to any other boy that would be it. But it was not Ryan's first time at this particular rodeo. "No, I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

The Fervent Kirche went down in the flames she claimed to burn in as Ryan gave her a polite nod and left her bedroom. Left in the dark bedroom, she blinked a few times. "What… what just happened?"

She looked to Flame. "Did he just turn me down? Flame, what did I do wrong?"

Flame let out a cry in reply, before Sticks appeared in the window again. "Kirche…if you're still willing to…"

Kirche nodded to Flame, and the familiar used Flamethrower on Sticks.

It was super effective.

* * *

Louise heard the door open again, and rolled over to find Ryan entering and pulling off his sweater and pants. She turned back over, and closed her eyes. "I thought you were going to sleep outside."

"I thought I was too, but then that Kirche girl came on to me, so I decided I'd stay in to avoid anymore trouble," he replied as he sat down in the chair he slept in the night before.

So that's what all that was about? Louise let out a growl. "You didn't do anything, did you?"

"No, I lost interest pretty quickly."

Louise felt a tinge of relief at that, and then snorted. "Good. I can't stand that woman."

"Why, aside from the Zero thing?"

She sat up and looked at him. "The Zerbst and Vallière families have been enemies for generations! It is a never-ending feud!"

Ah, that stuff. Eventually hating the other just becomes a tradition. They don't even remember why they hate them, they just do. "It sounds pointless."

"You wouldn't understand, now shut up and let me sleep." Louise settled back into bed.

Ryan hummed. "What if I had slept with Kirche?"

Louise snorted back. "You don't sleep with Kirche; she has her fun for a few minutes and then kicks you out of her room. If you did that stuff with her, you'd just be dead to me."

He was surprised he wasn't now. Oh well, this was only the second day. "I get it. Goodnight Louise."

* * *

The next morning, Tabitha woke up and performed her morning routine. She made her bed, washed up, organized her notes, got dressed, and put aside her dirty clothes for washing later. After putting on her cloak and retrieving her staff, she headed out her door and immediately cast a silencing spell on Kirche as she stormed up and began ranting at her about something or other.

Tabitha loved Kirche and considered her a dear friend, but it was just too early to be making this much noise on a Voidday. As she watched Kirche, she noticed that she seemed genuinely upset about something, and canceled the spell.

"…I didn't even get to kiss him-"

Nope. Tabitha silenced Kirche again, who noticed it this time. Stopping, Kirche glared at her petulantly, and Tabitha undid the silence spell.

"Tabitha! Ryan rejected me!" Kirche cried out.

This chapter has failed the Bechdel Test.

Tabitha didn't really care about Kirche's romantic pursuits, but the mention of the young man pulled at her interest and she directed her full attention to Kirche, who kept talking, "I almost had him, too. It was perfect; I had the candles out, put on my best lingerie and everything. It was going to be a night of passionate love-making!"

Kirche sighed. "But then we were… interrupted."

Oh, Tabitha knew, she had been up late reading and heard the racket.

"I think he was intimidated by the others," Kirche surmised, "It's what happened to Sticks before, but after he understood how things were arranged he got along nicely…"

As nicely as teenaged boys who were kept well apart and on a strict schedule could. It marveled Tabitha that none of them had actually killed one another in a misguided attempt to gain Kirche for themselves, but for a body like that most men would probably go against their nature and _not_ kill each other.

If she cared more about the dynamic, it could be something worth researching. But she didn't.

Tabitha rarely let her opinion be known beyond a yes or no answer, so Kirche continued on as they began walking for the cafeteria. "Though, even then Sticks didn't just walk out! Ryan just left and didn't even look back!"

Kirche rested the back of her hand on her forehead melodramatically. "Maybe he's not intimidated, maybe he was outright repulsed?"

It would not surprise Tabitha one bit.

Then a worse possibility came to mind. "What if… oh no… what if he and Vallière…?"

Given all that Tabitha had seen so far, that was an even remoter possibility. But Kirche was not one to be denied a worst case scenario and she balled her hands into fists.

"Oh! That Vallière, summoning such a handsome boy and having him all to herself! I will not allow it!" she declared.

Tabitha had cause to be alarmed. Directly engaging Louise after what she did yesterday was one of those things that Tabitha would eagerly do…right after she marched back to her home country of Gallia and challenged her Uncle to a fight to the death for the right to rule.

The two entered the cafeteria, and there was Ryan and Louise eating their breakfast. Ryan's presence wasn't causing the commotion it had before after the duel, but now he was receiving deadly glares from Kirche's suitors–those who showed up the night before and around half a dozen more. Tabitha could've started laughing right then, but she was reserved enough to not even crack a smile about it.

"They all want to fight you."

Ryan was unconcerned about the prospect of fighting them. "I'm not interested in Kirche, so they don't have to worry about a thing. Besides, they all realize they're banging the same girl, right?"

Louise flushed when some of the students next to them turned to stare. "Don't be so crass in public!"

He was surprised that a post-renaissance era parallel universe would understand the slang, much less a noble witch. "My tongue is only noble when the subject deserves it."

Ryan stopped, and sighed. "I need to lay off the King Arthur."

He then noticed Kirche approaching from the corner of his eye, and quickly returned his focus to his meal.

She called to him, "Oh Ryan, can we talk?"

Ryan didn't look up, not out of any rudeness, just because if he looked up, he would not be able to get his stare out of Kirche's cleavage. "What did you want to talk about?"

Kirche smiled. "Well, since there are no classes today, would you like to go on an outing with me?"

Well, there went gasoline on that fire, as some of Kirche's suitors slammed down their silverware and stood up to protest. Louise's vehement reaction rendered them background noise. "Keep your claws out of him, Zerbst!"

Kirche recoiled from Louise, the tiny wizard glaring like she was a tiny pink French Poodle challenging a German Shepherd. Kirche, however, wasn't to be intimidated by a Vallière. "Now, now, Vallière, I only want to get to know him…"

"…_Biblically…" _Wulf added, and Ryan tried not to smirk a little.

"…I have no intention of stealing him away from you. So let your master have a little fun." Kirche actually had every intention of stealing Ryan away from Louise, and Louise could see it plain as day.

"Don't you have enough boys to have fun with you… you… harlot!" Louise snapped at her.

Tabitha blinked, and then stepped back when the air temperature around Kirche rose. Calmly, Kirche asked. "I'm sorry, Vallière, did you just-?"

"I said it."

Kirche glared at Louise, as though she was going to haul off on the shorter girl in the name of her honor, her family, and her ancestors, while Louise wore a look on her face that said she WISHED Kirche would do it. Before screaming, slapping, and hair pulling could commence, Ryan stood up and got between them.

"Whoa, okay. Calm down, both of you, I'm not going through yesterday again," he said as he pushed them both away from each other.

Tabitha stepped in as well, holding her staff out to deter Kirche from escalating the confrontation.

Remaining between Louise and Kirche, Ryan looked to the latter. "I mean no disrespect, Kirche, but I have things to do at the request of your Headmaster. So I'll be busy today."

Kirche still wanted to get back at Louise for the harlot dig, but she eased up some. "Oh, I see. Very well, but can you see it in your heart to make a little time for me in your busy day?"

There was that doe-eyed look again that Ryan saw through, infuriated Louise, and caused Kirche's other partners to devise plans for him that involved violence.

"I can't make any promises," Ryan just said.

Kirche backed off at this. It was bad enough she was rejected last night, outright failing in front of the entire school could damage her reputation. With this she could actually take a better shot later.

She put on a smile. "Then I'll be optimistic about later today, mm?"

"Right, now I'd like to get back to my breakfast." Ryan then looked down to Louise. "And so would you."

Louise, satisfied that Kirche wasn't having her way (for now) huffed and sat down to resume eating.

Tabitha motioned for Kirche to follow her to their spots at the table, and gave Ryan a parting look and nod as they walked away.

Ryan decided that he liked Tabitha. Not romantically, of course, but so far she'd been nothing but helpful. Taking his seat, he looked to Louise and whispered.

"Is there someplace far away from the school we can go to practice?"

Louise nodded. "Since there are no classes today, we can take a horse and leave the grounds for the day."

Ryan liked the sound of that. "Good, soon as breakfast is done, we're gone."

And Louise liked the sound of that!

* * *

Some time after lunch ended, Ryan and Louise were atop a pair of horses from the school, heading to a nice open field near a town three hours away from the school. Louise had been concerned about the horses, and how they'd regard a stranger from another world, but she was relived to see that Ryan's horse had taken a liking to him quickly. Though she had to admit, she didn't like Ryan's method of taming the beast.

"Is that really what you call music in your world? It sounds like garbage," she asked as he sang yet another weird song that the horses seemed to like.

Ryan stopped and stared at her. "It's not Garbage, it's Sublime. They're two entirely different bands."

Louise gave him a confused stare, and Ryan chuckled.

Dismounting from their horses and tying them up a safe distance away behind a hill, Ryan and Louise walked out into the middle of the field and scanned the terrain. The town was still a safe distance away, in case anything went wrong.

"This is good," he declared. "We can start here."

Louise watched as Ryan then drew his sword and swung at the ground, creating a blast of wind that dug out a shallow hole. Ryan then took a bag he'd grabbed from Louise's room and dropped it into it, before covering it back up.

"So your sword is your wand?" Louise asked as Ryan patted his foot down on the dirt.

"Huh? No. Magic in our world doesn't really need wands, they're mainly to help a caster give something for the spells they cast to travel through," he replied as he sheathed the blade.

Louise nodded. "I see. So what was in that bag?"

"A spare change of clothes for you, you're going to need them." Ryan replied.

Given what happened to her clothes yesterday, Louise understood this reasoning completely. Though remembering that she ended up mostly naked in front of her school did cause her some embarrassment.

"So I might lose my clothes again? What about you?" She gestured to his clothes. "When you used your magic to stop me, your clothes didn't shred."

"Well, I have control over my magic, and my clothes themselves were specially made to be a little more durable." Ryan tugged on his sweater. "This material's actually a lot heavier than it looks, and is supposed to be knife and bullet resistant. Thanks to that, it can take me casting my magic better than regular fabric."

Fabric that could resist bullets! This intrigued her, but she was more interested in learning more about her magic. "Alright, show me what I have to do to cast this magic properly!"

Ryan nodded, and walked out into the field from Louise, before turning to face her. "Like I said yesterday, Aether is the force that powers the magic in my world, and is the energy that drives life."

"What does that mean? Is Aether 'life force'?" Louise asked.

"Yes, it basically exists in all things and gives them definition. Without it, there can be no life, no magic, nothing. Just… well…"

Ryan sighed. "It's a pain for me to describe. Imagine everything in existence being one big, formless mass where all things are indistinguishable from one another and there's no separation. Aether basically acts as the space that fills in those gaps, and gives it definition."

Louise understood. "I see, would that be why the symbol is an asterisk, pointing in all directions because it's everywhere?"

"Hey, you're pretty sharp. That's pretty much why." Ryan then turned and headed over towards a fairly large rock, bigger than a horse, and gestured for Louise to come over. "Stand against this rock, please."

Louise complied, and leaned back against the boulder, before Ryan stepped back in the gently waving grass and closed his eyes. "I'm going to start by demonstrating how powerful this magic is, and how much control I possess over it. This will give you an idea of what you'll be capable of."

Louise looked back at the rock, and then back at Ryan, before she noticed the grass begin to bend, as if being slowly flattened around his feet. The flattening grass radiated outward, soon reaching Louise's feet.

Then she felt it, the same sense of power she had before, but rather than overload her senses like before, it enhanced them and she let out a gasp. Everything was suddenly sharper, in both clarity and sensation as she rested her open hands against the smooth surface of the boulder, and could hear the prevailing breeze blowing through the grass outside where Ryan's power was flattening it.

Her focus snapped back onto him, as he raised his hand and closed it into a fist.

He spoke, "Don't be afraid, no matter what I will not hurt you."

Louise nodded, but still braced herself. Ryan began walking towards him, and when she looked down at his feet, her eyes widened.

He wasn't walking on the ground. He was walking atop the bent grass, which barely budged under his weight. Every step, however, created a ripple effect in the ground around him that Louise could feel down to her bones. What on Earth was this…?

"If the Aether is connected to all things, then you can now understand what it means to be connected to the Aether itself."

Ryan then suddenly lunged for her and punched her with all his might in the stomach. The boulder she had stood against exploded violently, sending chunks of it now no bigger than her hand scattering outward behind her in a large arc.

Louise stared at his fist, resting against her stomach. She hadn't felt the impact at all; her stomach didn't even budge inward, like he was hitting a wall. When he stepped away, she turned and stared at the rubble, and fell to her knees in disbelief.

"How?" she asked.

Ryan leaned over her shoulder. "I wanted to destroy the rock, not you. It's not as easy as I made it look, trust me, but it's one of many useful abilities that you'll learn."

Louise's face reddened, her whole body felt comfortably warm. Okay, what was this now? "I feel… really good right now…"

Ryan stood up. "Oh, that's just a side-effect. Life is a good thing, so life energy should feel good, shouldn't it?"

Louise nodded and he continued, "That's what makes Aether Magic so dangerous and so rare in my world. If you're not careful, if you can't control it, you will become addicted to it and lose all sense of yourself like you almost did yesterday. If you let it consume you like that…"

He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword for emphasis, extinguishing the warmth Louise was feeling. "…At least you won't feel it."

Louise nodded slowly, and got up. Ryan then smiled. "Now then, let's work on introducing you to it properly, shall we?"

* * *

In the school's library, Colbert was taking advantage of his day off to the fullest, researching the five known elements, Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, and Void, the last being a lost magic in the world as it was known. On the notebook at his side, the symbol of his world's magic was scrawled, and beside it the relatively crude asterisk.

Ryan's description of the Aether as a life-force bothered him. The four known elements gave their users the ability to control those elements to fantastic degrees, and Void Magic was said to act in a way that the traditional four could not do. However…what could magic that called upon life-force itself do? What kind of limits existed for that power?

Miss Longueville entered the library, rubbing her back and trying to regain her composure. That Old Osmond and his sexual harassment, she was lucky she didn't kill him just now with that paperweight of his. Still he was preferred to that Count Mott ogling her breasts like he had the remotest chance at getting his hands on them.

Spotting Colbert intensively studying from a pile of books, Miss Longueville smiled somewhat and made her way over to him. "Ah Colbert, you've been a common sight around here these last few days."

Colbert looked up at Miss Longueville, surprised she'd be down here. "Miss Longueville, is Old Osmond still seeing the Count?"

"No, he's taking a nap." Though he was probably going to wake up soon, she didn't throw it that hard.

Colbert sighed. "I respect Old Osmond, but he's definitely getting on in years. Why was the Count visiting, by the way?"

Miss Longueville took a seat next to Colbert. "Oh, he was bringing a message warning about the thief Fouquet of the Sand. It seems that he is interested in taking one of the Royal Family's treasures being guarded here."

In all the excitement surrounding Ryan, Colbert forgot all about that. "The Staff of Destruction, in all the excitement recently, I had forgotten about it. "

"Yes, I can understand why." Miss Longueville leaned closer. "Colbert, what precisely do you know about the Staff?"

Colbert looked from his notes to her. "Ah? Not very much, I am afraid, other than it's exactly what it says on the tin. It has the ability to kill any beast, no matter the size, with a single casting, from what Old Osmond described to me."

_Very interesting,_ Miss Longueville thought. "A power like that would be frightening in the wrong hands."

"Like any other," Colbert said before he removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose.

Miss Longueville glanced back towards the library's doors, around where they were seated, and then to Colbert. "I hope you're not terribly too busy with your studies, I need to get out of a dinner date and I'd appreciate some help with that."

Colbert replaced his glasses. "Count Mott asked you to dinner, I presume?"

"How did you…?" Miss Longueville asked.

Colbert just smiled. "He's the reason Old Osmond's last secretary quit. She didn't want anything to do with him after she went out with him."

Miss Longueville cringed slightly. "Well, that's unsettling."

"Well, if you need a more pressing engagement, I do need to head into town and purchase some more books," Colbert then said.

"Oh, I'd be happy to help, very, very, very happy." Miss Longueville said. Happy to have gotten out of a date with Count Mott… and of course happy that she had a way in closer to this little mystery. She knew, however, she wasn't going to get anywhere with just the bald bookworm.

After all, Ryan was the one who knew the most about what she needed to know.

* * *

"Tabitha, you have no idea how grateful I am for this!" Kirche admitted as she and her best friend soared through the air aboard Sylphid, Tabitha's Wind Dragon familiar. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the sky was clear aside from a few high clouds above them.

When it finally became apparent that Ryan and Louise had run off in the direction of the town, Kirche seized upon the opportunity to follow along and "bump into him" while in town. Hopefully, she could separate him from the dwarf and "show him the sights", so to speak.

Tabitha had decided to give Kirche a ride because it sounded like it would end either in an adventure, or she'd have to prevent Kirche and Louise from killing one another.

Definitely not in town, and still in the field, Louise was in a state of complete bliss, tapped into the Aether and allowing it to spread across and through her. Her senses were expanded to their human limits, allowing her to take in the full scope of her environment.

Ryan was standing a safe distance away, watching the rune on Louise's hand as she became one with the life, the universe, and everything. It was glowing red, but it was a soft, non-threatening light as opposed to the alarming light she displayed before.

He was impressed; she had been like this for hours now, perfectly still, in full control of the relatively small amount of Aether she was drawing to her.

_She's a natural at this,_ He declared to Wulf.

Wulf agreed. _"Yes, but bear in mind she hasn't experienced your trauma and has less baggage involved."_

_I know,_ Ryan replied before he called to Louise. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel wonderful!" Louise replied. Even with such a small amount of Aether running through her, Louise never felt more powerful or in control in her life. It was a liberating feeling, ironic given her status as familiar.

Ryan chuckled. Experiencing the world via high-definition senses was definitely one of the perks of Aether magic–though that had the glaring drawback of over-stimulation, as he learned himself while exploring his abilities.

Speaking of, it was time to learn that painful lesson. It has to be done, really. "Alright, ready to go beyond the boundaries of a mere mortal?"

Louise looked at him. "Ah?"

"You've done well to keep your power stable, I want you to call out to the Aether, and draw more of the power to you." He instructed.

Without hesitation, Louise obeyed, maintaining her concentration. As Ryan watched, Louise's hair and cloak began to lift upward, and she let out a long, airy sigh as the power of the Aether intensified the warmth she had been enjoying all day.

Opening her eyes, Louise marveled at what she could see now. It was like her vision had gone from 20/20 to 1000/1. She could literally see for miles now. It threw her off, and she fell onto her back, where the discomfort from her landing lashed at her senses and caused her to hiss in pain. But that was quickly forgotten when she could make out every individual strain of grass against her skin, and even hear the insects in the grass scurrying to get away from where she fell.

"It's amazing, huh?" Ryan asked as he walked over to her. More than just his footsteps, when Louise turned her attention to him, she could hear his breathing and his heartbeat plain as day.

She could hardly move her body, let alone nod. There were just so many different signals, sensations, and feelings running through her. It was like before, her senses blurring together, making it difficult to respond to anything else.

It was amazing, but at the same time, confusing and frightening. How did she pull herself out of this? As much as she wanted to keep going, to see how much further she could go, she was terrified at becoming too far gone, locked in this hyper-sensitive state.

Louise had her answer when Ryan then clapped his hands together, and it sounded like an explosion in her ears. Slapping her hands over them, she rolled over to her side and curled up into a ball as she quickly threw herself away from the Aether, and her senses returned to normal.

"You got off lucky, when it happened to me; the person training me used a flash bang," Ryan said.

The name alone gave Louise an idea as to what that was, and how unpleasant that must've been. She then sat up and looked up at him. "How do you avoid all of that when you use the magic?"

"Well, as your control of the magic gets better, you'll learn to make it do exactly what you want it to do. I've still not gotten it down, but I know more than enough, and you're a Mage with enough schooling under her belt to figure how to control it like you would other magic, right?"

Louise stood up and frowned a little. "Even then, this is going to be very hard, isn't it?"

Ryan appreciated that Louise was a realist. "Yeah, it is. But nothing really worth it is easy, and I think you can do it."

She looked down at the asterisk rune. It was a while before she spoke, "It's not just my school."

Ryan hummed back.

"Except for one person, my entire family believes that I'm not cut out to be a mage. I went to the academy despite their wishes, and I survived through my entire first year out of spite, and thanks to the support of that one person."

She opened and closed her hand. "I almost gave up yesterday, but then you tried to help me, and I remembered that person… my older sister Cattleya."

The asterisk began to glow, as she looked back up to him. "So… thank you. Thank you for helping me, and for teaching me."

Ryan smiled. "You're welcome, and you're a pretty good student, even though you're just my first one."

Louise then looked across the vast empty expanse, and looked to Ryan. "I'd like to try casting a spell. Something basic…"

She pointed at a one of the rocks that had been part of the boulder Ryan had shattered before. "A levitation spell on that rock."

Ryan nodded and stepped back. "Sure, give it a shot."

Louise pulled out her wand and pointed at the rock. This would be easy, just a step above the normal cantrips that even she could do without causing a disaster. As she had practiced all day, she called forth the power of the Aether, and directed it through her body, to her wand, and recited the incantation in her mind.

And then there was a tremendous explosion that broke windows in the town and rattled them at the Academy.

* * *

The explosion would've knocked Sylphid out of the sky had Tabitha not instinctively raised a barrier at the first flash to protect their eyes and bodies from the effects of the explosion. As the initial flash faded, both mages and their dragon stared in disbelief at the mushroom-shaped cloud that rose up over the field.

"What… what was that?" Kirche asked.

"An explosion," Tabitha replied, not in the least bit flapped.

Kirche gave Tabitha an incredulous look, was she being smart with her? Climbing to Sylphid's neck, Tabitha instructed her familiar. "Let's go see."

The dragon swooped down and arrived at ground zero, along the way passing over Ryan and Louise's horses who, despite being scared witless, were unharmed thanks to Ryan's foresight to hide them behind a hill. Dismounting from Sylphid, Tabitha cast a wind spell to blow away the smoke, and Kirche gave a start when both saw what it concealed.

Louise, her clothes completely blown off by the backlash of her spell, was lying under Ryan, who was somewhat singed but unharmed. She was staring up at him, wide-eyed, convinced that neither of them should be alive right now.

"Uh…" Ryan blinked and then smiled a bit. "Well! I'm pretty sure that rock is somewhere up there now."

Most likely in orbit around one of those moons.

Kirche, still shaken, looked at Louise's wand still clutched tightly in her fist. "V-Vallière… that… that was you just now?"

Louise looked over at Kirche as Ryan sat up. Sitting up at the bottom of her hundred foot wide crater, and covering herself with her arms to preserve her modesty, she glared at Kirche. "It was an accident!"

Kirche went stark white, a feat in itself for a woman of such dark complexion.

Ryan, however, was optimistic. "You know what? It could've been worse, you're already showing promise."

Worse? That just shook Kirche up more. What on Brimir's Earth were these two doing out here?

Louise smiled at that. "We should find my spare clothes."

"Oh, they're gone." Ryan pointed to where they would've been buried, and there was nothing but steep crater wall. Still, ever the gentleman, Ryan removed his sweater and handed it for Louise to put on.

When she took it, she fell over, weighed down by the heavy material. Ryan looked down at her. "Oops, I forgot."

Tabitha handed Louise her cloak, and then looked to Ryan. "We should leave."

"That's a capital idea," Ryan replied as he helped Louise up. "Let's get the Hell out of here!"

After calming down the horses and mounting them, Ryan and Louise quickly rode off for the school, with Kirche and Tabitha right overhead aboard Sylphid.

* * *

That evening, Louise got herself dressed for bed and settled in under her blankets. After that not so tiny mishap, when they returned from their lesson, Ryan had confiscated Louise's wand and told her to focus exclusively on controlling the Aether and to not cast any spells. Surprisingly, she offered no protest to this, entirely because she did not want to destroy the school and she enjoyed just contacting the magic.

As she closed her eyes, she immediately began contacting it, and let out a pleased sigh as that warm feeling returned. Yes, she was going to sleep well tonight.

Upstairs, Kirche wasn't sure if she was ever going to sleep as long as she knew Louise of the Explosion was in the room below her. Actually Kirche wasn't sure if she even wanted to be in the same country as Louise, much less the same building.

There was no way Louise or Ryan should've been able to survive that, if Tabitha hadn't raised a barrier, they would've been killed too and they were several miles away from the epicenter! What was she trying to do out there that turned her previous explosions, generally regarded as nuisances, into that?

There was a knock at her door, making her jump. She wasn't in the mood for guests tonight, and prepared to fling a fireball at the door when it opened and Tabitha walked in. "Tabitha?"

Tabitha never came into Kirche's room uninvited, though Kirche was not complaining. The quiet mage was her best friend after all. "What is it, is something wrong?"

She climbed onto the bed and sat directly in front of Kirche, staring intently at her, before she spoke, "I want to help."

Kirche stared at her, dumbfounded. "You want to help me with what?"

"Ryan."

This did not allay her bemusement. "Why?"

"He is good for you."

"Well of course he's good for me…" Kirche paused. "...Tabitha, are you saying that I should focus only on him?"

Tabitha nodded, and Kirche pouted some. "I had been thinking about it, he is different from the other boys, incomparable even. He's rebellious, and has no respect for nobility. I really like that."

Yes, she liked it a lot; thinking about it was working her up considerably. "And he's also very strong. He could probably fight all the other boys without a problem."

That had to be why he seemed so aloof to the bad looks he was getting before. He also had a good personality about him, rebelliousness aside. He was an ideal boy to settle down for.

Kirche then stopped and shook her head. Look at her, sizing him up as though he were husband material! "I just want to have fun, Tabitha."

"You won't get him, then. Get serious," Tabitha advised.

Kirche sighed. "He'd think better of me if I was more exclusive, you're right."

She then scrutinized Tabitha. "But I know you Tabitha; you never do anything without a reason. Why are you helping me? 'Because he's good for me' is not enough, what are you getting out of it?"

Tabitha fidgeted a little, and Kirche quirked an eyebrow. "It's something big, isn't it?"

The smaller mage nodded.

Kirche's eyebrow continued its upward movement. "It's something that you're really embarrassed to ask for, isn't it?"

Tabitha nodded again, her cheeks becoming a little red. No one else was allowed to see this but Kirche, who had witnessed it ever so rarely.

Seeing this, Kirche figured it out, and gasped. "You want to be with him too, don't you?"

Tabitha buried her face in her hands, to hide the flush across her face, and nodded quickly. Poor Kirche, she could not help but laugh at the adorable reaction, despite how out there it was for her friend to want something like this.

Folding her arms across her chest, Kirche hummed. "How risqué…"

Tabitha peeked up at her best friend, who chuckled again. "Were it anyone else in the world, I'd say no, throw you out of my room, and hate you forever. However, because you're someone so dear to me, Tabitha, I will graciously accept your help and in exchange… I'll share."

Tabitha hugged Kirche then, surprising her yet again. "Thank you."

Shrugging her shoulders, Kirche sighed and returned Tabitha's hug. "Think nothing of it."

* * *

Ryan, washing his clothes outside this time, had no idea of the machinations going on over his head. He was looking up at the two moons overhead, particularly the pinkish smaller celestial body.

_They have no atmospheres. The surfaces are just that color, why do you suppose that is?_ He asked Wulf.

"_I'm a disembodied soul, not a Lunar Geologist!" _

_Fair enough, it's just weird to me. _Ryan replied.

He then felt it; Louise was performing her Aether Contact exercise. Not only was she drawing the magical fuel in, but she was spreading it all over the place. Oh boy…tonight was going to be an interesting night for a lot of people.

Ryan held up his sweater, and nodded in approval when he found it perfectly clean. Setting it aside, he dunked his pants in the bucket and began scrubbing them next, even as a figure from the shadows crept up on him. It was Siesta, having noticed him outside as she was on her way to back to the kitchen to have dinner with the other staff.

"Ah, Ryan?" She called to him.

Ryan looked back, and smiled. "Hello, Siesta."

She smiled warmly. "Already washing your clothes? You must've had a busy day."

Ryan let out a laugh. "Oh you have no idea."

"I see." Siesta then looked around, when she felt something off. Was it just her or was there something in the air all of a sudden?

"Is something wrong?" Ryan asked.

Siesta looked back to him, and shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

She then noticed how he was scrubbing his pants. "Are you always so forceful? You'll ruin the fabric."

"Oh, it can take it," Ryan trailed off as Siesta knelt down and gently took hold of them. She quickly noticed their weight, and was surprised.

"They're so heavy, how do you wear them all day?" She asked as she began gently washing them.

Ryan chuckled. "I've gotten used to them a long time ago. I've forgotten how heavy they are."

Siesta was a little impressed. "You must be strong then?"

He couldn't help himself, and hammed it up some. "I assure you, milady, my strength is beyond mortal comprehension."

Siesta laughed, as Ryan puffed up his chest, and comically flexed and posed, and the two of them shared a laugh over it.

As they calmed back down, she asked, "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to hear more about your world."

Ryan gave her an inquisitive look, and she elaborated as she scooted closer to him. "It's just that after what you told me before, I'd like to learn more about your world, and what it's like. It must be an interesting place."

Oh, Siesta had no idea. "Sure, if you haven't eaten yet we can discuss over some food?"

Siesta clapped her hands together at this. "Actually, I was on my way to dinner. You can come along if you like."

Ryan nodded. "I'd like that. Let me just hang these to dry and we can go."

With that quickly taken care of, Ryan and Siesta got up and headed for the kitchen. Reaching and opening the door for Siesta, Ryan looked back, and towards one of the school's watchtowers.

_I feel like I'm being watched,_ he noted to Wulf.

"_Assume you always are."_

Ryan shrugged his shoulders and followed Siesta inside. As the doors closed, a cloaked woman stepped from behind the tower, before she hopped off the wall and disappearing into its shadows.

* * *

A/N: Hey, Miss Longueville, what are you up to?


	5. Long Live the Night!

Disclaimer: Alright, now we're getting into the groove of things!

**Everything and Nothing**  
Long Live the Night!

_Feel the energy of YOUTH!_

**[5.]**

Colbert and Miss Longueville had been riding towards town to pick up the books he needed, when they had witnessed the explosion Louise had created. After calming down their startled horses, they raced to the scene and found the vast, smoking crater Louise left behind, as well as a small detachment of Griffin Knights from the palace.

Seeing the knights, Miss Longueville tensed slightly, but maintained her composure when. Colbert called to them.

"Captain, what has happened here?"

The Griffin Knights, named for their majestic steeds, quickly turned their attention to Colbert, and relaxed when they saw it was only him, a teacher from the academy. Descending from his mount, the Captain of the Knights approached the two mages and gestured to the crater.

"We were performing maneuvers when we heard the explosion and raced to the scene. My men are searching the area for any clues, but the devastation is complete," the Captain, Viscount Jean-Jacques Francis de Wardes, explained to Colbert.

Indeed it was, Colbert had never witnessed an explosion of such power before. "Well, if you need any assistance, we're more than willing to aid you."

As he spoke, Miss Longueville noticed something glinting in the crater, and headed towards it.

Colbert and Wardes looked over at Miss Longueville, with the former calling after her. "Miss Longueville, what is it?"

At the bottom of the crater, Miss Longueville crouched down and picked up the shiny object. Her eyes widened in surprise when she recognized it. "I think I've found a clue!"

She held up the clue, and Colbert hid his cringe well as he and Wardes quickly identified the gold pendant worn by all Tristain Academy of Magic students.

It took Colbert only a second to realize who could've possibly created the explosion. Ryan and Louise had informed Old Osmond and Colbert that they'd be practicing magic outside of the school grounds, but what exactly was that boy teaching Miss Vallière, and had they survived?

Miss Longueville walked over, and Colbert took the pendant from her to examine it as Wardes leaned over to look as well. The gold pendant was undamaged, which meant there was a good chance its wearer was somehow protected from the blast as well. If they survived, the two were probably on their way back to the Academy right now.

Colbert turned the pendant over in his hand, and immediately regretted it. Perhaps out of fear of it being lost, Louise had gone through the trouble of inscribing her name on the back of the pendant.

"This belongs to Louise?"

Colbert looked to Wardes, who appeared stunned. Taking the pendant from the teacher, the Captain of the Griffin Knights read the name inscribed on it repeatedly before speaking, "Mr. Colbert, what exactly is going on at the Academy?"

Well, this was just perfect. Colbert took the pendant. "I was wondering the same thing. I'll have to return to the Academy post-haste and contact Old Osmond."

Captain Wardes nodded. "Very well, I shall see you there…"

Before he could offer Mr. Colbert and Miss Longueville mounts upon the Knights' swift Griffins, another Griffin Knight swooped down. "Captain, we're needed in the town, there's a panic because of the explosion, we've been requested to restore order!"

Wardes gave pause, and then nodded to the arriving Knight. Colbert inwardly thanked the Viscount's dedication to his duty. It meant he'd have a head start in damage control on the Academy's end.

"Mr. Colbert, I will be heading into town to restore order. Once I am finished there, I hope I will get some kind of explanation for what happened," Wardes said to Colbert, before he returned to his mount.

As the Griffin Knights quickly took off for the town, Colbert climbed about his horse, and was joined by Miss Longueville. He looked to her and spoke, "We'll have to get the books later, this is urgent."

Miss Longueville nodded, and together with Colbert rode hard back for the Academy.

* * *

That was hours ago, and in thanks to some eavesdropping on Old Osmond when Colbert explained the situation regarding Wardes, she was largely up to date on the situation. This was good, because it meant she could approach Ryan without suspicion, something she had been trying to work her way towards before by cozying to Colbert.

It was nice she didn't have to get too cozy; it would've made using her wiles to get closer to the otherworldly mage awkward.

She had intended to "run into him" while he was out washing his clothes, but then a maid had unwittingly ruined that angle by showing up and starting a conversation with him. To Longueville's further dismay, the two got up and left together to head inside, leaving her to have to improvise.

It was as she hopped down the wall to make her way inside that Miss Longueville found herself privy to another meeting. It was Sticks and the other members of Kirche's harem, lurking in the shadows like a bunch of delinquents and riled up about something or other.

"That Ryan Ingram has taken away our Kirche! Casting us aside like ashes from a pipe now that she's found something she thinks is better!" Sticks, tears of anguish running down his cheeks, declared to the other young men, who all nodded back.

Miss Longueville stared in disbelief. Was everything in this school beginning to revolve around this boy?

"You know how Kirche is, once she is shown something she cannot have, she decides she must have it, especially if it's something that belongs to the Zero." Monaco pointed out.

Ajax, still sporting bandages from the scalds he received from Flame, held up a fist. "We need to eliminate that swordsman and win back our Kirche! Just because he's exotic doesn't make him better!"

"Hear, hear!" several other boys cheered.

Sticks rode upon this sentiment. "Yes, we're all nobles, with lines going back generations, and both the skills and magic to back them. A summoned human of such low class is no competition for us; we shall show him and our Kirche this! We have put aside our differences for the right to be in her company, and we shall join forces to return to her graces! Gentlemen, let us separate the men and nobles from the boys and commoners!"

"Hear, hear!" the other boys cheered, and Miss Longueville buried her face in her palm.

This was going to be an interesting night, she mused to herself.

"He headed off to the kitchen with that maid. When he comes back out, we will confront him and demonstrate what it means to be a noble!" Sticks said, and the mob of youths quickly headed towards the main tower of the school.

* * *

As an angry mob was forming outside, Louise was blissfully unaware of it as she rolled over in her bed and took a look around her room. Ryan hadn't come back yet, not that she was concerned about it of course–in fact she was quite fine with having her privacy again after having him in her room for two nights in a row.

Letting out a sigh, Louise pushed those thoughts aside and deepened her contact with the Aether slightly until the sensitivity of her senses sharpened. She shivered then, as the pleasant feeling of her night gown and her bedding against her skin suddenly became almost risqué.

Her face warmed at the thought. If the Aether made her sense of touch like this on her body in general, then what about somewhere more specific?

Louise's cheeks now completely red, she sat up slowly, looked to the door and listened for a moment for anyone outside it, and then looked down.

* * *

If there was one thing Ryan could not yet get over, it was how good the food here was. Even these leftovers were good. Well, leftovers were always good; the longer food had to let the flavor sink in, the better in his book. The kitchen staff were also a great deal amiable than the folks he had to put up so far, all of them interested in learning more about the mysterious boy from another world.

"When Siesta first told us about you, we were all very curious. Is it true that you come from a world where the nobles are gone?" The head chef Marteau asked as Ryan helped himself to some more of the stew.

"Well, they're not all dead, but the ones we keep around aren't really important to world affairs, no." Ryan replied.

The commoner staff marveled at this, and Siesta spoke. "So commoners are in charge?"

Ryan nodded. "That's about right, where I'm from the government is of the people, by the people, and for the people."

"_Indeed, in your world anyone can have the power of nobility, provided they have the money,"_ Wulf chided.

_Your political commentary is unwanted, your majesty, _Ryan snapped at him.

"Sounds nice, it'd certainly be a better way of running things here, right?" Marteau asked the others, and a round of laughter was shared by the kitchen staff.

_"For someone who has no intention of starting a revolution, you're dangerously close to giving these people ideas."_

Ryan scoffed at that, there was no way things were as bad around here as to warrant a revolt. As uppity as these kids were, the adult nobles he met so far seemed to be completely prudent and reasonable.

"So, Ryan, what about where you live, what's that place like?" Siesta asked as Ryan took a sip of his stew.

He looked down on it, and lamented to himself that it could use pepper. It then occurred to him, that if this world was like his, then pepper would be something that only the richest Kings in this country would have–if they had such trade routes to supply it, of course.

Ryan shelved that thought for later, as he answered Siesta, "Well, I come from just outside of a city on a huge lake, it's practically an inland sea. A lot of people live there, and it's been getting bigger since a few years back. It's generally a nice place, but weird things are always happening, so it's never boring."

It most certainly wasn't, even taking a vacation away from it seems to land him in some weirdness.

"Weird things…?" Siesta asked.

"It's a very long story; I'll just say that my having this sword is related to some of the stuff that happens," Ryan said as he held up his sword.

When Marteau gestured, Ryan held the sheathed blade out for him to take, and he marveled at it. "It's so light; I've held foils heavier than this."

He then unsheathed it and examined the blade, it was perfectly polished, while the hilt and hand guard made it appear almost decorative. Sliding the blade back in, he looked to Ryan and handed it back to him. "A fancy sword like this could get you in trouble."

Ryan took his sword back and tied it to his hip. "It has, more than once. But it's practically a part of my body now."

He had some questions of his own. Taking a bite of bread dipped into the stew, he asked one. "So who exactly is in charge here in Tristain?"

"Ah, that would be the young Princess, Henrietta," Marteau replied.

Ryan stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Of course this country would be ruled by a Princess, just his luck. "I see. I hope she's at least nice."

"Oh, Princess Henrietta's very nice; despite her age just about everyone in Tristain loves and respects her," Siesta said.

Marteau hummed in agreement. "Yes, but with the troubles in Albion, she's going to be put to the test, especially if they spill here."

At Ryan's blank look, Marteau explained, "Albion is an island kingdom to our west, right now there's a movement amongst the nobles there to unseat the royal family. It's going very badly from what I've heard at least."

Very interesting, Ryan noted to himself as he nodded. "I see, is there any chance that it might spread here?"

"The Princess is related to the Royal Family of Albion. People are worried that once the Royal Family is ousted there, they'll come here to ensure that all branches are eliminated, a good old fashioned purge," Marteau explained.

That went from interesting to unsettling very quickly, as Wulf noted. _"Isn't it convenient that we fall into a world that could possibly tumble into a regional war? Your luck once again defies logical explanation."_

Ryan sighed. "Then I hope it doesn't come to that. Tristain is such a wonderful place; I'd have for the peace to be ruined."

Siesta smiled to Ryan at that. "Thank you."

Marteau, however, slapped Ryan on the back. "Of course, in the event of a war, you'd have no trouble with that sword of yours, eh King?"

Ryan's eyebrows twitched at the mention of that word.

Siesta blinked "King?"

They did it again, and Ryan took an inaudible breath.

"Ryan is derived from an old Albionian word "Ri", which means King," Marteau explained to Siesta. "It's something I remember from my childhood, interesting trivia, wouldn't you say?"

Ryan let out a weak laugh. "Yeah, interesting…"

For years now no one would let him forget it. Not his family, not his best friend, Barb, NO ONE. It was to the point that sometimes he wished he could punch the next person who called him King right in their "they think they're so funny" face.

"_Stay cool…King,"_ Wulf advised.

Ryan wished he could punch himself in the head. Instead, he shoved more stew into his mouth and offered his compliments to Marteau. As he ate, Siesta hummed quietly, and then returned to her own food.

* * *

In another part of the school, Guiche was restless. Not just restless, he felt…dare he admit it…caged. He paced about his room, like a classy animal, occasionally stopping to bring his rose-tipped wand to his nose and try to ponder this strange discontent that welled in him. When nothing came up, he let out a sigh of frustration and resumed his pacing.

How uncouth, to feel this way, to want something, anything, but having no idea what it was he wanted! It made him want to scream, to create a bronze golem and punch it, to hunt down Montmorency, rip off her clothes, and take her all night long…

"Good heavens, where did that come from?" Guiche cried out when the thought flashed through his head.

He stopped, and then hummed. That actually didn't sound like a bad idea, now that he thought about it.

Guiche then slapped himself. That was no way for a gentleman noble to act, especially towards the woman he loved!

But now that the thought was in his head, it was not getting out. Oh, Montmorency, beautiful Montmorency. While not busty like Kirche or fiery like Vallière, or naïve like the first years he's wooed, she was beautiful and elegant in her own very valid way.

Plus she still put up with his skirt-chasing and reined him in when he was going too far. What a keeper!

There was a knock at his door, and Guiche turned to face it. It was not too late, but still, who would come to see him at this time of night?

Walking to the door, he opened it and suddenly Montmorency was flinging herself into his arms, like a ringlet-wearing missile. "Oh, Guiche!"

"M-Montmorency!" Guiche, caught off guard, fell backward and onto the floor with a thud, Montmorency landing atop him. She wasted no time in her attack at all, cupping Guiche's face and kissing him passionately.

Well, tonight suddenly became great.

Breaking the kiss, he stared up at Montmorency. "Montmorency, my dear, what's gotten into you?"

Montmorency, her face bright red, looked away from him. "It is all I can think about…"

Guiche's eyes widened. "…All you can think about?"

Sitting up and straddling him, Montmorency let out a sigh as she covered her rosy cheeks. "I've been thinking about you, Guiche, about how you've been so good lately. You haven't even been giving looks to other girls recently, and then during the duel with Vallière, you were so brave!"

She squirmed where she sat, and Guiche liked this very much, and let out a squeal. "Putting yourself in danger like that to keep Vallière from hurting anyone, I never thought that you could be so bold!"

Guiche of course seized upon this and sat up, placing Montmorency on his lap and resting the end of his rose on her cheek. "My first and only thought was to protect you, for you are the most beautiful thing in my life. More than magic, more than even Verdandi, you are my most precious."

Montmorency, tears threatening her eyes, gasped at this and embraced Guiche tightly.

Much like him, she had felt restless since she'd retired to sleep, and as she dwelt upon it she thought of her boyfriend, and how lately, he'd been so wonderful, both as a boyfriend and as a man. Those thoughts quickly ignited that restlessness into passion, and suddenly her heart was overflowing with love and desire. Emboldened by her feelings, she rushed to see him at once.

"I love you so much, my Guiche," She purred to him, as she nuzzled her cheek to his.

Guiche returned her affection without hesitation. "And I love you, my Montmorency."

"Ah, Sir Guiche…?"

And the moment was ruined by the sound of Katie's voice. Guiche looked up at the first year girl who was really good at making soufflés. She was standing in the doorway to his room, shocked at the sight of the man who had wooed her just two days ago in the arms of another girl.

Guiche went pale as Montmorency turned and looked back at the first year girl, who jumped when she fell under her gaze. She then turned back to look at Guiche. At the same time, both girls asked.

"Who is that girl?"

Guiche was almost white as chalk, as both girls stared at him. Montmorency gave him particular scrutiny, before she remembered seeing that girl at the duel, cheering Guiche on with a box of something or other in her hands. Knowing Guiche and his flirting ways, she put it all together, rather quickly.

Montmorency looked back at her again, and the girl cringed before she spoke, "My Guiche is a terrible flirt, you're just another girl he's wooed, aren't you?"

Katie was hesitant to answer, before Montmorency snapped at her. "Aren't you?"

Katie nodded hurriedly, fearing the wrath of an upperclassman. Her fear was nothing compared to Guiche's, as he was held in Montmorency's tightening grip. She turned back to look at him, her eyes narrowed…mirthfully?

"Oh my Guiche… you terrible, terrible flirt." She purred before she leaned forward and nuzzled him again. She called back to Katie. "I'm staking my claim here, First Year girl. Guiche de Gramont is mine, but you're welcomed to battle me for him!"

Guiche blinked, and wondered what was going on. Montmorency then ripped open his shirt and answered it well enough. She ran her hand down Guiche's chest as she stared at Katie.

"The field of honor shall be Guiche, do you accept?" Montmorency demanded, daring the younger girl to respond.

Guiche began thanking every possible deity he could think of at that very moment. He doubled his thanks when a red-faced Katie sputtered a bit, before she steeled her resolve and nodded. "I accept!"

Fire burned in Montmorency's eyes. "Then close the door, and let's do battle."

Katie quickly closed the door, as Guiche was shoved onto his back. He didn't know what he did, or who he pleased to deserve this, but he very quickly stopped worrying about it.

* * *

Dinner eaten and the kitchen staff thanked, Ryan and Siesta headed for the courtyard, this time Ryan was learning more about Siesta and her home, a nice little village called Tarbes, a commoner village where mages passed through only on occasion.

"Until I received a job at the academy, most of my time was spent helping my mother and father care for my little brothers and sisters. It's the reason I'm working out here, all of my earnings go back there."

Ryan certainly admired that. "Your family must be proud."

"Yes, but they miss me as much as I miss them. Sometimes my father asks me to come back home, so he can find me a nice, rich noble husband so I don't have to break my back for their sake," Siesta explained.

Ryan chuckled. "Well, it wouldn't be too hard for you to find a rich husband, at least."

Siesta stared at him for all of a second before she realized what he meant, and blushed as she looked away shyly. "Ah… thank you, but I wouldn't want to marry for money. I'd like to fall in love with the man I marry, so I can be happy like my mother is."

"_Ah, to be a commoner, unfettered by the loveless marriage politics that encumbers nobility,"_ Wulf said in a nostalgic tone.

Stepping out into the courtyard, Ryan noticed that the atmosphere had changed considerably. It was heavier; the Aether was so thick that if he focused on it, he'd see clouds of the energy drifting about like a warm, inviting fog. He zeroed in on Louise, and then blushed himself. What on earth was she doing?

_She's going to either pass out from over-stimulation or dehydration at this rate. I had better go check on her before I go to bed to make sure she's okay,_ Ryan thought to himself.

Of course, when your body was a vessel for a smart mouth spirit, was any thought to yourself? _"Oh? Wouldn't it be rude to just leave Siesta's bed in the middle of the night?"_

How rude. _Implying I'm trying to get there, how low Wulf._

"_You would lie to me, when I can see into your thought processes?"_ Wulf replied.

"It's such a nice night. The air is so clear, the moons are full," Siesta said, as she stared up at the clear sky.

"_And you're just dying to sink your teeth into her… among other body parts," _Wulf taunted between Ryan's ears.

Ryan punched himself in the side of the head, and Siesta looked at him. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, fine. I heard something buzzing in my ear," he quickly replied, as he rubbed his hair.

Siesta smiled at him, and giggled, and Ryan quietly calculated his chances.

Wulf laughed aloud.

_Shut up, she's cute,_ Ryan groused back.

"_That is certainly not up for debate, I'm just surprised that you're considering going for it."_

Ryan returned Siesta's smile, as they quietly enjoyed the night sky. _Louise's experimenting is affecting me too, and besides… she's cute._

"_You already made a note of that."_

He then blinked and stared straight ahead, as a dozen or so young men gathered out into the courtyard directly in front of Ryan and Siesta. Almost immediately recognizing Sticks among them, Ryan knew exactly what this was about and grimaced.

"Are you kidding me, they're really doing this?" He mumbled to himself as Siesta, given a fright by the sudden appearance of the students, hid behind him.

"Good evening, Ryan Ingram," Sticks said to him. "You can guess why we've come to speak with you, yes?"

Ryan glanced back to Siesta and gave her an assuring nod, before he faced the other boys. "I presume it has to do with Kirche, right? Look, I don't really have interest in her, so you don't have to worry about me okay?"

Sticks raised his hands emphatically. "It's not that simple, I'm afraid. We aren't stupid; we know pretty well that you want nothing to do with Kirche."

Well, if that's the case then why are they here?

Sticks answered that right away.

"The problem is that Kirche wants plenty to do with you, and she won't be denied as long as you look desirable to her."

Ryan's expression became unreadable, as Wulf let out a great, jolly laugh. _"They're jealous of you, even though you're not even trying to do anything."_

"So, your solution is…?" Ryan asked.

Sticks folded his arms across his chest. "It is our intention to show you exactly how far the gap is between us noblemen and yourself. Even if your familiar is a dangerous one and you're handy with a sword, you're still a commoner. You don't belong anywhere near our level, let alone near Kirche's."

The other mages nodded, as they drew their wands and held them at their chests.

Sticks pointed his wand at Ryan. "What say you, to that?"

Wulf chuckled. _"So, you ready to stain the grass red with noble blood?"_

His amusement ebbed when he got a hint of Ryan's annoyance. _"Hey, boy, you're not seriously considering…?"_

_No, I'm going to use a much more effective technique,_ Ryan replied, before he removed his sword from his hip, and promptly handed it back to Siesta,

Over to the side, Miss Longueville watched the display of the students with disgust. Nobles being nobles, childish, spoiled nobles. She actually wished the boy would gut them all there, and make them regret their hubris.

Ryan stepped forward two paces, before he ran his fingers through his hair and lowered his head. His body language had changed, shifting from aloof to intimidating in subtle ways. "What say I? I say… kneel."

Sticks and the other boys stared at Ryan, before he looked up at them, his expression furious. "I SAID **_KNEEL_**!"

It was then that the mages all felt a great weight on their bodies, bringing them all down to their knees before Ryan, to Siesta and Miss Longueville's shock. It went without saying, that the boys were all surprised as well.

"You call yourselves nobles? All I see before me are spoiled, pampered _dogs_. Pets, paraded about and shown off by their masters, to perform tricks for a dull audience, there is nothing noble about you or anything you do!" Ryan shouted to them, the weight on their bodies increasing as he walked towards them.

He reached down and picked up Sticks' wand, before weighing it in his hand and tossing the instrument to the side. Sticks couldn't even try to retrieve it, the weight was too great. "You won't even fetch, pathetic."

Siesta covered her mouth, as Ryan turned away from Sticks and paced up and down before the boys. Miss Longueville's jaw was hanging just above the floor.

"You dogs, you mockeries of human beings, stand before me and declare me beneath you. What noble must gather a pack of mongrels to stare down a lowly commoner?" He demanded.

He stopped and turned to face them all again. "Be you dogs or be you men? Speak!"

Shock wore off, as Sticks and the other got quite pissed off at the language used towards them. One of them, Monaco, shouted back. "We're men! You're the dog!"

Ryan tilted his head up and stared down his nose at Monaco. "You're obedient enough to speak when commanded to, dog."

Monaco's face went red, and he bowed his head. Ryan turned his back to them. "Listen to my words and become men, you dogs. To be noble is not to be above, but to be in front. A noble leads, a noble guides, and a noble will fall first, for those behind them. Your birthright does not make you better than any man; it only means you must work harder to be considered one."

He faced them. "That means to not seethe and growl like dogs when threatened, and act like cowards to get your way. As long as you act like that, you belong here, at my feet."

Sticks stared at Ryan, and blinked a few times. What magnificent words, they echoed like the voice of Brimir from the heavens, it was awe-inspiring. He looked at his fellow students, who were similarly struck, before he looked back up at Ryan.

"Now, be you dogs or be you men? Speak!" Ryan asked.

None spoke, instead, they rose up against the weight pushing them down and found it gave way without resistance, and all stood a lot straighter than they had when they first approached.

Seeing this, Ryan nodded his approval, and let out a snort. "I have no intention on your woman; now get out of my sight."

Sticks, feeling humbled, nodded. "Very well."

"_You bastard, using corny lines from a high school play on these guys."_ Wulf laughed.

Ryan let out a hum before he replied, _They're a bunch of spoiled kids; I could've quoted the Bible or Lord of the Rings and gotten the same result. As long as you deliver it forcefully, you can get any message across._

As the boys walked away, Ryan went back over to Siesta, who was still just frozen as she stared at him. She was at a loss for words.

Ryan looked over to see the last of them leave, and then leaned close to Siesta with a goofy smile. "Pretty good, wasn't it?"

Siesta blinked, and smiled to him. "That was an act?"

"I've been acting since I was nine years old," Ryan replied.

"You're very talented," Siesta said, and the two resumed talking as they walked away.

Miss Longueville turned away from the scene and ducked back into the shadows, her hands over her heart. He was able to subdue all of those mages with such minimal effort, and without a wand. But much more importantly, was his words about nobles.

She liked that way of thinking.

* * *

Still lying in bed, locked in a friendly embrace, both Kirche and Tabitha had lost track of time after they had agreed to join forces to win the attention of Ryan. Tabitha was lying partially atop Kirche, her head resting between her breasts, while Kirche combed her fingers through Tabitha's short blue hair, enjoying sharing such closeness with the smaller girl.

Tabitha let out a contented sigh and nuzzled Kirche, prompting her to look down at her, and entertain the thought that had been floating in her head since they came to their agreement. "Tabitha?"

Looking up at Kirche, Tabitha blinked.

Kirche blushed somewhat. "You wouldn't be thinking about you and me, tonight…?"

"No. I like men."

That was great, Kirche didn't lean that way at all. "Oh good, that would've been awkward."

Tabitha nodded assent, but she didn't leave her comfortable spot atop Kirche's chest. Nor did Kirche try to move her from it. Completely comfortable with one another's company like this, both girls soon fell asleep.

One floor down, Louise wasn't sure if she was every going to sleep. She didn't want to, when she was having this much fun. She was lying atop her bed sheets, her night clothes were lying on the floor beside her bed, and her entire body was flushed from head to toe in the darkness.

"This… this is so… wonderful…" She said in a dreamy, giggly, but somewhat hoarse voice as she ran her fingers through her hair, and then looked at them.

Somewhere in her blown-out mind, Ryan's words echoed, warning her about letting the pleasurable aspects of the Aether consume her. But she quickly rationalized that one more time wouldn't hurt, after all, it hadn't hurt the last time, and the time before that, and three times in quick succession before that. Just one more time and she'd sleep, she told herself as she focused the Aether to her fingers.

"This is the last time," She reminded herself, as she reached down again.

* * *

Outside, Ryan and Siesta, on their way to the latter's lodging, were caught off guard by the school's fountain suddenly coming to life, sending a stream of water up to cascade down, the light of the two bright moons overhead casting a nighttime rainbow.

"Oh, it's so pretty!" Siesta gasped at the sight.

Simultaneously, Ryan felt Louise's connection to the Aether diminish, and he let out a small chuckle. She had passed right out.

They were going to need to lay down some rules, but that could come in the morning, he mused to himself as he rested a hand on the small of Siesta's back.

Siesta looked up at him and blushed when he smiled back to her. She sidled closer, allowing him to slide his arm around her waist and pull her against him as they watched the fountain and the rainbow it created.

* * *

A/N: Fling your fire and flames at me. It is rather cold this time of year.


	6. Acceleration

Disclaimer: Basketball Jones, I got a basketball Jones, I got a basketball Jones oh baby ooh… ooh!

**Everything and Nothing**  
Acceleration

_The Sage of Toads Vs. Quad City DJ's: Slam no Tsukaima_

**[6.]**

It was just after sunrise when Ryan returned to Louise's room, and let himself in. Apparently she hadn't even bothered to lock her door last night. Given that she was snoring away on her messy bed, naked as the day she was born with a smile on her face, it wasn't hard to determine why.

"Hmm…" He filled a jug of water, gathered some snacks she he'd been given by Siesta, and set them on the desk next to the four post bed. He reached out and shook her shoulder.

"Louise? Louise?"

"Uh… what…?" Louise mumbled. She slowly opened her eyes, and groaned as the sunlight filled her vision. "Ow… I have a headache…"

"Given how dehydrated you are, it's no surprise," Ryan said. He lifted up the jug, poured a glass, and held it to her lips. "Drink this."

Louise was in no condition to argue, and she drank the water until the jug was empty. Ryan handed her the snacks–candied fruit for the most part–and she gratefully ate every bit. He got up, refilled the jug, and directed her to resume drinking.

"You caused quite the stir last night," Ryan commented.

"Mm? How? What did I do?" Louise asked. She took a sip, and Ryan waited until she was drinking to spring his trap.

"With all the Aether you were pumping out while pumping yourself last night, it's amazing half the women in the school aren't pregnant," he said.

Cue the spit-take. Louise's cheeks turned a fiery red as she coughed and sputtered. She at least grasped the concept of innuendo.

"Wh-Wh-WHAT? I'm a noble! I-I would never do–I did no such dirty thing and you are–that is completely…!"

"Louise, Louise, calm down!" Ryan said, resting both hands on her shoulders. He locked his gaze on to her eyes, and her spike of fury, humiliation and fear diminished. "It's okay… everyone who taps into the Aether goes through this, every single one. It's the force of life itself, it doesn't care about propriety or tradition."

"Then… then how do you deal with it? How do you control it?" Louise asked, feeling more than a little frightened. Visions of her losing control and… and doing disgraceful things in public filled her mind.

"Practice, lots and lots of practice and discipline," Ryan said. "And don't worry: I'll be there every step of the way."

He gave her a comforting smile, remembering how his parents would comfort his little sister when she'd wet her bed. It wasn't all that different a situation… aside from the potential for mass destruction, of course. "Okay? I won't let you embarrass yourself in your training all right? Promise."

Louise stared back, and her flush darkened due to his proximity and her state.

"All… all right…" She got up. "I um, I need to take a bath and get dressed."

Ryan smiled and gathered up her bed sheets. "Then I'll get these cleaned up, we'll have breakfast, and get started on the next leg of your training."

It was just after breakfast, and before the start of classes, that Ryan and Louise headed out into the courtyard. Despite her mishap last night, she had proven that she could control contacting the Aether and avoid it consuming her, so now was a good time to apply it in ways beyond enhancing her senses. Ryan just needed a place to do it.

As they rounded a corner, he found it, a small court where a few students were using their magic to levitate balls into a basket. He grinned. "That's perfect."

Louise looked back and forth between him and the court. "What's perfect?"

"You'll see, come on." Ryan replied as he led Louise over to the court.

* * *

On the court itself, Montmorency performed a levitation spell to toss a ball into the basket, watching it as it bounced on the rim then went in. Next to her, Katie used her own magic and tried to repeat the act, but it was clear the first-year was still trying to get the hang of it. Not that it was an issue; both had more important things on their minds.

When the morning had come, both had woken up and left without a word to one another or Guiche, who was at a loss for words as much as they were. The awkward silence carried on through breakfast, despite all three sitting next to one another at the same table, and was still ongoing as they played ball.

On the sideline of the court, Guiche watched the two girls, wondering in his heart of hearts when someone was going to say anything. He was afraid to say a thing himself, because he was pretty sure that Montmorency was going to kill him where he stood on the first word out of his mouth.

As both removed their balls from the basket, it was finally Katie who spoke, "…I-I enjoyed myself, did you?"

Montmorency seemed to sag slightly, relieved that someone broke the ice. "Yes, I did."

Guiche blinked in disbelief.

Katie caught her ball then looked at Montmorency intently. "What do we do now?"

Montmorency hummed. "Well, you could always be his mistress I suppose, if you want."

Guiche's jaw fell, was this happening?

Blushing, Katie looked away. "You'd let me be Guiche's mistress?"

This was really happening, right? Guiche was wondering if he was dreaming and pinched himself. "Ow!"

Montmorency let out a huff and prepared to shoot another basket. "If Guiche has someone on the side already, then he won't be as inclined to run off after every girl he meets."

Katie could see the logic. "You're right; I don't think he'll ever want to cheat on either of us."

Montmorency then gave Katie a pointed look. "Just remember that I am Guiche's lover first and foremost."

To this, Katie nodded obediently, not wanting to earn Montmorency's wrath. It was here that Guiche realized that Montmorency was simply using Katie as another form of control. Well, if it meant more of what happened last night, then he was entirely fine with this.

Ryan and Louise reached the court, with the former calling to them. "Excuse me, can we use the court?"

Guiche looked over, and brightened. "Ah! Good morning, Ingram!"

Ryan smiled and waved to him. "Morning Guiche, how's everything?"

"Wonderful, better than it ever was, I'd say," Guiche replied as he looked to Montmorency and Katie. "Am I right, my ladies?"

Louise was confused, as Montmorency rolled her eyes and Katie blushed and giggled.

Ryan paid it no mind at all. "That's great. Me and Louise need to use the court, I'm about to play basketball with her."

"Basketball?" All of the nobles repeated.

Louise looked at the basket. "What, tossing balls into the basket? That requires magic, and you know I can't use my wand!"

As she spoke, Ryan walked over to the pole the basket hung from, and quickly shimmied up it. Louise tilted her head to one side. "What are you doing?"

"This." And Ryan used his sword to cut out the bottom of the basket, before sliding back down the pole. "We're not tossing balls into baskets using magic; we're going to use our hands, like real athletes play."

He took one of the balls, and dribbled it briefly. It was a little smaller than a regulation ball, but it bounced and that was all he needed.

Louise frowned and folded her arms. "And how is this supposed to help with my magic?"

Montmorency and Katie joined Guiche and watched with interest as Ryan spun the ball on the end of his fingertip. He then explained it to her, "Yesterday, you learned how to sharpen your senses; today we're going to try enhancing your physical ability."

He dribbled the ball once, and then caught it in his hands. "I'll try to simplify it as much as I can. You cannot hold the ball while you run, you can shoot from anywhere inside the court, and every shot is worth two points. After you score, you have to give the ball to me, but you can try to take it back. You cannot touch the other player; any hitting, tackling, or otherwise physically striking me with any limbs is forbidden. The first of us to reach twenty points wins."

Louise looked up at Ryan, all six feet four inches of himself, and then down at all of her own five feet no inches. She looks up at him. "This is completely unfair."

Amused, Ryan tossed her the ball, and she barely caught it. "That's why this is practice. Now, you can either bitch about your disadvantage or do something about it. So what'll it be," he grinned, "Princess Cupcake?"

Louise bristled at this, and then began to dribble the ball, as she observed Ryan doing before. "Alright, I'll just…"

She began to walk to the side of the court to try to shoot, but Ryan walked past her and snatched the ball before it could return to her hands. Turning around, he tossed the ball and dropped it into the basket effortlessly.

Louise whirled around and shouted. "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can, I said that you can try to take the ball from me when I have it, which goes the same for you." Ryan caught the ball and tossed it to Louise. "Move faster."

Growling, Louise did just that, taking the ball and trying to run away from Ryan, clumsily dribbling the ball as she did. Ryan, however, overtook her in several brief strides and again stole the ball from her, tossing it into the net over his shoulder without looking.

"Give me a chance to try something before you take the ball!" Louise complained, as the ball was tossed back to her.

On the sidelines, Guiche, Montmorency, and Katie all clapped at the display of shooting prowess. Guiche in particular was intrigued by this "basketball"; it looked like a manly sport of skill and finesse.

Ryan stepped back, towards the net. "Alright, I'll let you do something."

Louise wasn't buying his sincerity, and dribbled the ball over towards the side of the court furthest from him but with the best shot from the net. Taking the ball in both hands, she aimed and shot the ball, sending it up and towards the net with surprising precision.

And then Ryan jumped and swatted it out of the air before it could go in. "Nope."

That kindly tore it, and Louise screamed at him, "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can, I'm tall enough," Ryan replied as he went for the bouncing ball.

Realizing that the ball was still in play, Louise ran for it, but Ryan caught it, turned and shot again, dropping the ball in again with no problem.

"That's six to Zero… Louise," Ryan purposefully teased.

Her face reddening in anger and embarrassment, Louise caught the ball when he tossed it to her, and then promptly threw it down. "How am I supposed to do anything when you're taller and faster than me?"

"_She really is a foolish pupil," _Wulf commented.

_I explained to her what this was about; don't tell me she doesn't get it._ Ryan replied to Wulf before he sighed. To Louise he shouted. "What do you do? Do I have to paint a picture for you? Think, girl! Now pick up the ball!"

Against her better judgment Louise complied and held the ball tightly in her grip. She wasn't an idiot, how was she supposed to enhance her physical ability and use it to her advantage here? It didn't matter if her senses were better, he was still taller and had longer legs, and knew how to play this game better!

Closing her eyes, she contacted the Aether, the rune on her hand lighting up softly. She wanted to be faster than him, so she could shoot the ball and actually score. It was all she wanted, she wanted to be faster!

"This is stupid!" she declared before she opened her eyes, and realized something was very off with the world. Ryan was frozen in place, but he was in mid stride towards her and the ball she held, anticipating her dribbling it so he could take it as before.

Blinking, she looked over at Guiche, Montmorency, and Katie, all of them frozen like statues, with Katie pointing at the rune on Louise's left hand. Confused, Louise took a step, and then realized that Ryan was still moving… albeit extremely slowly. Had she slowed down the world or something? This was so strange!

Still, Louise capitalized off it, walking away from Ryan to the same spot she had shot from before, and tossing the ball into the net, with a swish it went in.

"Yes I got one in!" she cheered as she jumped up and down.

As she cheered, time suddenly resumed, with Ryan stopping when he realized that Louise had vanished from where she had been standing. Katie gasped in shock, as both Guiche and Montmorency jumped back, startled at Louise's almost instantaneous movement.

"What… how did she do that?" Montmorency asked.

"Amazing!" Katie gasped.

Guiche blinked, and immediately recalled where he'd seen that speed before.

Ryan clapped. "Well done, Louise! You've learned how to speed up." He then held out his hands, ready for the ball. "Can you do it again?"

Louise tossed the ball to him, and then nodded. "I'll steal the ball from you, this time!"

Catching it, Ryan released the ball to dribble. "We'll see about that–huh?"

The ball was already going into the net, shot by Louise.

Ryan looked over to Louise, who had her arms folded and was grinning like she was queen of the world. He then smirked. "I've created a monster, a teleporting pink poodle."

Montmorency's jaw was on the floor now, while Katie was looking back at where Louise had been and now her present location, flabbergasted. Guiche's composure, however, had returned and he was now watching with vested interest.

Louise tossed the ball back to him, and when he tried to directly shoot it, she was off again–running up to him as he raised the ball to shoot and jumping up to snatch it out of the air as it left his hands. Holding the ball in her hands, Louise snickered and ran towards the net, to get close and shoot from there directly, another easy point for her.

"Traveling," she heard Ryan say, and the ball was plucked from her hands. Staggering to a stop, she turned and looked back at Ryan, who was at the end of the court.

"What," Montmorency said when first Louise and then Ryan seemed to instantly teleport.

Guiche just chuckled. "She may be able to do the trick, but he's a master at it."

Both Katie and Montmorency looked to Guiche as he continued, "When Louise lost control of herself, Ingram saved me by moving at incredible speed, it was how he defeated her, too. Ah, he is quite the mage, yes?"

Ryan dribbled the ball, and grinned to Louise. "Let's begin the next part of the lesson, shall we? Now I'm going to show you a very special technique and I want you to try to copy it."

Louise nodded and watched raptly, waiting to see what special technique Ryan had in mind. Running past her, Ryan jumped up and promptly dunked the ball, the flimsy basket connected to the pole managing to hold under his weight. Louise almost immediately recalled his walking atop the grass, and realized what he had really wanted her to do.

"This," Ryan said as he began to perform chin-ups on the basket, "Is called dunking. Get by me, and dunk the ball, Louise. Can you do that?"

He landed and picked up the ball before throwing it to her. "Just keep doing what you've been doing and try not to travel."

Louise nodded and then began to dribble the ball. She now had to jump up there, and get the ball into the basket, without breaking it too. If it was as easy as going faster, she decided that this would be easy too. Drawing into the Aether, she willed herself to be lighter, and then jumped.

Up and over Ryan Louise flew, a little too fast. "Ah! No! No! No-!"

Ryan, Guiche, Montmorency, and Katie all winced when Louise hit the wall behind the basket and the pole it was hanging from. Like a feather with all of its dignity removed, Louise peeled off the wall and drifted to the ground.

Walking over, Ryan looked down at Louise and saw that she was entirely okay, aside from her pride. "Well, you're getting the hang of this, at least."

He then knelt down and helped her up. Rubbing her face, Louise let out a grumble and then stared up at the sky. "Hey… are those…?"

Ryan looked up as well, and then went wide-eyed when he saw a number of men atop griffins fly over the wall and towards the main entrance of the school. He blinked a few times as he watched them pass and fly out of sight behind the main tower of the school.

"By the power of Grayskull," he whispered in awe.

"_No fair, this world gets griffins? I feel like we lost the multiversal lottery,"_ Wulf deadpanned.

"Why would the Princess's elites be here?" Guiche then asked aloud.

"Elites?" Ryan looked to Louise for exposition.

Louise appeared shaken herself. "The Griffin Knights, they're Princess Henrietta's elite Knights. They must be here because of the explosion yesterday."

That'd do it to get an elite fighting force over here, Ryan agreed. But it was clear that their presence was upsetting Louise for a different reason. "Is it a bad thing that they're here, Louise?"

"N-no!" Louise replied, before she admitted. "…But my fiancé is their Captain."

Ryan stopped, and then stared at Louise in surprise. "Your fiancé?" He tossed the ball aside. "Well! Since you're close to your limit anyway, let's take a break, and see what all this is about exactly."

Louise blinked and followed, wondering what he meant by her being close to her limit.

* * *

Inside his office Old Osmond sat at his desk, with Colbert standing at his side, across the desk from him were Wardes and Count Mott, acting as a representative of her royal highness.

"I thank you for meeting with me on such short notice, Old Osmond, but I am curious as to why the Captain of the Griffin Knights is present as well." Count Mott said of Wardes, who attentively stood by.

"As you already know, Viscount Wardes was the first on the scene from the military to investigate. He is here because the nature of the incident is relevant to him," Old Osmond replied.

Count Mott's brows rose, and he looked to Wardes, before returning his attention to Old Osmond. "How is this relevant to the Captain?"

Old Osmond then nodded to Colbert, who set down Louise's pendant on the desk. "This was found at the site of the blast, it belongs to Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, who is the fiancée of the Viscount."

Count Mott was surprised. "Vallière, you mean the daughter of the Manticore Corps' former Commander?"

Wardes remained silent, though his eyes narrowed slightly.

Old Osmond nodded to the Royal Messenger. "Yes, as hard as this may sound to believe, Miss Vallière was the one responsible for the explosion, a spell gone awry."

Down the stairs near the door to Old Osmond's office, Ryan and Louise listened in, using the Aether to enhance their hearing. Ryan wasn't sure if he liked that Old Osmond was being so forthright with what he knew. On the other hand, keeping secrets from the local authority had its own consequences that needed to be considered.

Louise was more aghast that Wardes knew she pulled off the explosion, and feared what more Old Osmond would reveal.

"An explosion of that power was caused by a _student mage_?" Mott asked, incredulous.

Wardes sounded much more concerned about Louise. "Louise wasn't harmed, was she?"

"No, she's perfectly fine, Viscount," he said to Wardes. "We don't exactly know the circumstances behind how it happened, but explosions and Louise are nothing new, and we've taken away her wand so there's no chance it will happen again."

Ryan was surprised; Old Osmond wasn't going to discuss him or the Aether? Well, that was a relief at least. Louise relaxed as well, she even seemed happy to hear that Wardes was so worried for her.

Count Mott hummed. "Her Majesty will be relieved to hear that it was an accident and that it's under control, though I urge you, Old Osmond, to seek an audience with her Majesty so she can hear this directly."

"Oh of course, the Princess's annual visit is in a week's time, is it not? That's more than plenty of time for me to present full findings on the incident," Old Osmond replied cheerfully, before he added one more thing, "Naturally, given the sensitivity of this incident; I recommend that this be mentioned to no one but Her Majesty."

"Of course, you needn't concern yourself with that," Count Mott assured Old Osmond.

"Yes," Wardes agreed, "Until such a time where it is acceptable, we'll keep this a tight secret."

Ryan frowned, he wasn't so sure about that remaining a secret by the sounds of things.

"Old Osmond, where is Louise now?" Wardes asked, and Louise let out a squeak.

Old Osmond chuckled, even with assurances that she was fine, the Viscount was clearly eager to see her. "She should be outside, undergoing tutoring. You can go see her if you like."

With that, Louise's face flashed red, and she disappeared from sight. Catching this, Ryan grew alarmed. "Louise, wait!" he called out to no avail.

He got up and walked out, it wouldn't be too hard to find her, and she wouldn't get far in her condition. Sure enough, he found her outside near the basketball court; Louise was leaning against a wall, panting heavily and darkly flushed.

"I told you, you were at your limit."

She looked up at him, then away. "I can't let him see me like this… if he finds out…"

Ryan wore a gentle smile as he rubbed Louise's back consolingly. "It's alright, Louise, I understand."

The other students knowing of her being a familiar was one matter, her family or her fiancé knowing would be disastrous to her. "If it comes up, we'll just tell him you summoned me as your familiar and that's all."

Louise felt relief fill her, and she smiled gratefully to the tall boy. "Thank you, thank you…!"

"Louise?"

And with a terrified shriek she jumped into his arms when Wardes called to her. Ryan awkwardly cradled the flushing pinkhead in his arms as he stared at the man who was her fiancé. What a serious looking man, was his first observation. He was gray haired and bearded yet seemed far too young for such features. He wore a dark blue cloak over his rather plain green shirt and gray pants, making him resemble a Quidditch player. The cloak, however, were no movie prop-They were weathered from long hours of travel through the air.

"_So this is the beloved fiancé, what a cold-looking man."_ Ryan had to agree with Wulf, he couldn't shake the chilly presence that came from the man as he stared in mild bemusement at Louise.

"Did I scare you, Louise?" He asked in a gentle voice.

Louise shook her head, before she quickly realized her awkward position in Ryan's arms. Squirming free, she set her feet on the ground, and shuffled a bit, feeling smaller than she already was and finding herself unable to look up at Wardes. "N-no, you just startled me!" she stammered out demurely, "It's… it's nice to see you again, Viscount."

Ryan stood back a little, sliding his hands into his pockets and slouching slightly. He did it to direct more attention to Louise, as his pose screamed "unconfident loser you should ignore". The more Wardes dismissed him, the better a read he could get off of him.

Wardes focused on Louise, resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's nice to see you as well, Louise. It's been a long time since we've seen one another, hasn't it?"

"S-seven years," Louise stammered as a long, spike of delicious heat seemed to slowly burn through her body from where he touched her.

"You've grown so much since then, you're flowering into a beautiful young woman." His words caused her blush to grow even darker. Ryan barely managed to resist rolling his eyes.

"_Ah, is there anything more romantic than an arranged political marriage?"_ Wulf asked. _"I sincerely do not know."_

"Th-thank you, Viscount." Louise sounded as if she were talking to her idol more than the man she was going to one day marry. It was starting to irritate Ryan and he wasn't entirely sure why. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she continued to avoid eye contact.

"Business for Her Majesty, nothing important," Wardes replied. He glanced over at Ryan, a single eyebrow rising. "This gentleman is…?"

"Ryan Ingram," Ryan introduced himself politely, looking Wardes in the eyes. He extended a hand out for him to shake. "I'm Louise's familiar, summoned from another world."

Wardes grew surprised. "A human familiar?" He looked to Louise and smiled. "Of course, it would be Louise to perform such a feat."

When Louise began to shuffle and fidget in embarrassment, Wardes added. "Don't be embarrassed, Louise. Summoning a human to this world is an unusual occurrence."

The Captain of the Griffin Knights looked the boy over. He was tall, lanky, and wore an odd red jacket with a hood. But what caught his eye was the sword he wore on his hip. A summoned human carrying a sword, could he possibly be…? "You're far from home, aren't you?"

"_Very_ far, but nothing I can't handle," Ryan replied.

Wardes looked to the sword on his hip. "You're at least competent with a sword, I wager, or you wouldn't be wearing it."

Ryan lifted and dropped his shoulders. "I'm good enough."

Louise looked from Wardes to Ryan and grew worried. She could feel the start of an uneasy tension going on as the two men stared one another down amicably. Wardes let out a brief chuckle. "I can't tell if you're being humble, or boasting."

"I get that a lot," Ryan said, also chuckling.

"I would like to determine if it's one or the other, if you would not mind." When Ryan raised his eyebrows quizzically, and Louise gasped, Wardes explained, "A familiar is more than a servant or pet for its mage. There are duties that it must be able to perform."

Ryan got the message clearly. "Like protect its master."

Louise, apprehensive, quickly cut in. "Viscount, Ryan, please don't-."

"I'd be happy to," Ryan interjected. He gave Louise a decidedly flat look. "If my _master_ is willing?"

"It's nothing dangerous, Louise." Wardes rested a hand on Louise's shoulder once again, and the tiny mage tensed up with a small squeak. "I have no intention of harming him, I'll hold back if it worries you that much."

Louise trembled and pulled away from Wardes. She looked away from him, turning to Ryan. "D-don't hurt each other. I have to… go to the bathroom!"

She quickly ran off, unable to look at either as she raced for the school's main tower. Ryan looked to Wardes. "We'll meet at the basket court in an hour, is that alright with you?"

Wardes nodded. "That is perfectly acceptable, I'll be waiting there, take as long as you like to get ready."

Ryan gave Wardes a small lingering look of contempt, and walked away, ignoring Wulf's boisterous laughter between his ears.

* * *

With a desperate gasp of breath, Louise surfaced from the cold water of her bathtub, her entire body shivering as the shock of cold water extinguished the heat that was burning at every corner of her body. She leaned against the edge of the bath, her teeth chattering but immensely relieved to have that searing fire under control.

"Problem?" Asked Ryan, as he washed his hands in the sink nearby.

Louise looked over at him, and then away. "Y-you said that you practiced a lot to control it… h-how did you control it before you c-could?"

Ryan thought about it. "Well first, I tried cold showers… _that_ didn't last long."

Louise tried to ignore her chattering teeth. "Then what did you do after?"

"Banged my girlfriend until she couldn't walk," Ryan stated, splashing water into his face. He grinned at his reflection in the mirror. "Fun, but it also didn't last long." He looked over his shoulder. "I mean, we still do it: It just wasn't a practical solution to this."

Louise was rather surprised that he had a girlfriend, and hadn't mentioned her until now. It explained his avoiding Kirche's advances, though she wished that he'd told her about this.

Ryan finished drying his face and looked intently at the mirror. "Ultimately, it came down to two things: Discipline, and control."

He looked back at Louise, before kneeling down to look her in the eyes. "You aren't your powers, problems, or your desires, that's only part of you. When you realize that, it becomes a lot easier to control."

He then smirked nastily. "Though in my case it helped a lot I'd gotten the crap beaten out of me by my master every time I had a dirty thought during training."

Louise glared at him, as if to dare him to lay a finger on her in the same way, before she finally began to feel the chill from her cold bath and got out of the tub. She wrapped herself in a towel, and went to gather her clothes.

"I, however, am not a sadistic two-thousand year old Irish demi-god, nor an evil teenaged succubus," Ryan said as he stood upright and rolled his neck to stretch it. "We'll try something different for you."

Louise stared at him again, wondering what in the world he was referring to, and decided she was better off not knowing if she wasn't going to go through what he did. She dried herself off, as Ryan walked over to his chair and sat down.

"To help you out though, I'm going to consciously control how much Aether I feed you," Ryan said.

Louise let out a soft hum, curious. "You can do that?"

"Just enough so you're not getting wet over the most boring man in the universe," Ryan said wryly.

"He's not boring!" Louise whirled around to face him, practically breathing fire. Ryan, unphased, stared right back at her.

The tall boy snorted derisively. "He emits a field so bland I felt myself yearning for Wonderbread."

"Stop referencing weird things!"

"What's his appeal? Tell me."

Louise's fire sat on the back burner. "Huh?" She pouted a bit, before she answered, "Jean-Jacques… he's an amazing man, more than his 'blandness' shows. He was orphaned when he was very young, and had to work very hard to become a respectable noble."

"Hm," Ryan grunted, looking deep in thought. "He told you all this then?"

"No!" Louise snapped at him, and then cooled off. "When I was engaged to him, my older sister Eleanore got into an argument with my parents, and I overheard it. She didn't like that my father was engaging me to a 'nobody'."

"A nobody huh? What kind of nobody?" Ryan asked, interested.

"Jean-Jacques was just a regular Knight in Tristain's army. I was engaged to him, because his family owned the land surrounding our home, and my Mother and Father of course wanted it."

"Of course," Ryan said absently. He understood arranged marriages, sure, but they made him uncomfortable all the same. Moreso with Wardes involved.

"Aside from his family's holdings, he was a young man who came into a lot of wealth and had nothing else to show for his status. Other nobles felt he did not deserve his status."

Ryan nodded. "Admirable. Very admirable…"

Louise's expression softened and became a smile. "When he became the Captain of the Griffin Knights, everyone was surprised, and no one talked down at him after that. Not even Eleanore." She looked at her hand and the Aether rune. "He's someone I admire almost as much as Cattleya."

At least from Louise's description, Wardes seemed like a stand up guy. Sure, he seemed bland but he was also focused, calm, disciplined.

_So why does he still give me the creeps?_

"_I'm surprised you're not jealous."_

_Bite me Wulf._

Wulf's laughter echoed in his head. _"You're just being a big brother, wary of the first man who so much as glances towards the tiny witch. Just like your own tiny witch back home."_

_I hope that's all it is._

Ryan sighed, as Wulf's comment elicited thoughts of home. His little sister, who was about Louise's age, his parents, his friends… Barb…

Amusing as this all was, he really wanted to go home, and if Mr. Colbert and Old Osmond didn't start getting back to him on that, he'd need to take up a more proactive approach. Like a "trying to blast a hole through reality" kind of approach. It wouldn't be the first time, but that was neither here nor now.

"If you're done, Princess, I have to go get smacked around by your fiancé for a bit." Ryan got up from his seat, and headed for the door.

* * *

Wardes was waiting down in the "basketball court", standing without a tense muscle in his body. Ryan approached with equal calm, his hands shoved into his pockets as he strode across the grounds. Wardes' subordinates were hanging around, to watch the show, and the general commotion had attracted a fair number of students. Naturally, the incident with the duel and Ryan's little "basketball" demo had spread throughout the school, so all of them were probably expecting something like...

"Bet you the school is blown to bits," A student muttered to his friend nearby.

That. He came to a stop a few meters away from Wardes, and gave a show of looking him up and down.

"Can you believe that man is Vallière's fiancé, Tabitha? I'm so jealous!" Kirche seethed as she stared at Wardes, or rather shamelessly undressed him with her eyes.

"I don't care," Tabitha quietly replied without looking up from the book she read.

_One track mind, her,_ Ryan thought when he overheard it. He reached up and scratched the side of his nose. "So... how are we doing this?"

Wardes responded by drawing what appeared to be a rapier, but on closer inspection was clearly a wand-like instrument. A sword-wand? Ryan had to admit, that was pretty cool.

"Cool," Ryan said, drawing Wulf with a bit of a twirl for flare. The broad blade flashed in the sunlight, and Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

_Show off, _He chided Wulf.

"_There will be no points taken or given for style, so why not?"_

The crowd went into a clamor at the sight of the sword, it was the first time that Ryan drew it in public, but that note was far away from him at the moment.

"Don't be so flashy!" Louise scolded from the sidelines.

"As you wish, Princess," Ryan replied wryly.

Louise glared angrily his way. Alongside her, Guiche was already fairly confident about the outcome of the match, which he was not afraid to share with Montmorency and Katie.

"Captain of the Griffin Knights indeed, but against that speed, it's futile," he said with his rose held up to his nose. "I am certain that the duel will end within three blows."

_What is this, a freaking anime?_ Ryan thought to himself. He sighed and did a bit more swordplay, throwing Wulf up into the air, and catching him in his left hand. It was mainly to annoy Louise.

"Okay... let's go."

Wardes raised his sword in a gentlemanly salute. "I like your confidence, it'll be nice to see where Louise's pet familiar stands against a soldier."

Ryan returned the gesture, and went with a nice, loose stance. "I think you'll be surprised."

Guiche smirked "Here it comes…"

Louise grew tense, wanting this to be over as quickly as possible. Why did _everyone_ have to be here for this?

Without warning from either combatant, it began. Ryan moved first, closing the distance quickly as Wardes jumped back and to Ryan's left, narrowly avoiding a thrust aimed for his stomach. One handed, Ryan continued to stab at Wardes, the Mage deftly avoiding the strikes with limited but precise movements.

"It's been more than three moves," Montmorency reported to Guiche, who was surprised at the fact that not only was Wardes still standing, but Ryan seemed to be having difficulty trying to hit him.

"Ha! Ha! Wa-ha!" Ryan cheerfully called out with the thrusts of his blade, staying close to Wardes as the Knight Captain kept just out of his reach. "Come now Captain, you're not going to dance around all day, are you?"

Wardes smirked, and then swiftly parried Ryan's sword up with a flick of his wrist. "Of course not."

He thrust forward, forcing Ryan to hop back in surprise. "I was going to ask you the same question."

The crowd cheered, especially Wardes' Knights, as the nobleman leaped to the offensive, forcing Ryan to shuffle back across the court from side to side, to avoid being jabbed with the sword/wand combination. Wardes regarded the boy's movements as their blades met again, Ryan deflecting his rapid strokes and thrusts with surprising control. Was it the boy's skill with his blade, or was it Gandalfr making him proficient with the weapon?

"Interesting technique," He complimented him as their blades continued meeting, "Who taught you such finesse?"

Ryan parried Wardes' strike, before he lunged to stab him. Almost faster than the crowd could follow, Wardes sidestepped Ryan, and the two faced one another outside of striking distance. Ryan twirled his sword in his hand, and smirked.

"Years and years of stage fighting!" he declared.

"So you fancy yourself an actor?" Wardes struck, and the two began clashing blades again, circling one another as they stabbed, thrust, and parried.

"Fancy nothing, I'm quite talented!" Ryan called back, before Wardes broke his guard and forced him to jump back again, barely avoiding several jabs.

"On stage, yes, but there's a great deal of difference between that and true combat."

Ryan disagreed, by parrying the last strike and performing several strikes with an almost serpentine movement with his arm, striking Wardes' blade twice before they crossed weapons. "A good actor strives to be a convincing character, whether he's playing the foe or the fool."

The two swords scraped against one another, and Wardes nodded. "Yes, but as convincing as you are, that hand of yours is weak."

He shoved Ryan back, electing to use brute strength on the boy to open up some distance between them. Ryan retreated several steps, and then hopped from one foot to the other as he rotated his wrist, causing the tip of his blade to sway in a figure-eight pattern.

"Is he toying with him?" Guiche asked. "Why has he not ended this?"

"The Captain is impressive, skilled beyond his years!" Montmorency was completely wowed by the display and she was not alone. The entire crowd was getting into it, cheering on the two competitors… though Wardes was without question the favorite.

As Ryan and Wardes circled one another, anticipating the other's next move, Louise felt her apprehension cool. Ryan was clearly enjoying himself, and so was Jean-Jacques. Neither were taking this seriously at all.

"He's so cool, isn't he?" Kirche asked Tabitha. When she looked down to the shorter mage, she found that Tabitha was now intently watching the spar, specifically Ryan's movements.

Ryan then went stone-still, as though all the tension in the world was coiling up in him. Then it released, and he launched on the attack his strikes catching Wardes off guard for a split-second, but not long enough to break his guard as the experienced soldier deflected his strikes and met them stroke for stroke, sparks flying from their respective blades as they met.

"Goodness, is this safe?" Miss Longueville asked Old Osmond as the two watched from another part of the crowd.

Old Osmond mulled over this with a hum. "They're simply having fun, Miss Longueville. You should learn to relax and let men enjoy themselves." Of course, he would be saying this as he rubbed Miss Longueville's backside.

A split-second later, Miss Longueville punched the headmaster in the face. No one protested this, though Siesta, who was a bit further back in the crowd, worried that someone would ask her to get a wet cloth and thus force her to miss the fight.

"Go, Ryan!" she whispered excitedly.

The duelists circled one another again, a few more sparks scraping from their weapons before they jumped apart again. Wardes, however was on the offensive again, closing the distance and placing Ryan heavily on the defensive as he drove him back towards the edge of the court. It was taking all Ryan had to keep from being poked in one of the worst ways.

"You are wonderful!" Ryan said to Wardes with a broad smile even as he was pushed back. "I must admit, you're better than I am!"

Ryan stood his ground, parrying Wardes' strikes, but clearly unable to capitalize from them. Wardes was impressed himself. "For a young commoner, you do acquit yourself well with a sword. But your skills are lacking!"

"Yes, but that's all right, because I know something you don't know." Ryan could not believe he was about to do this, and it just made it all the more fun.

Wardes pressed Ryan a bit closer to the edge. "And what is that?"

Ryan neatly parried these strikes as well, before replying, "I am not left-handed!"

In an instant, Ryan switched hands, and much to Wardes' surprise, the boy was swamping him in a deluge of much stronger and faster strikes, testing his defense and forcing him back almost effortlessly.

"_You are the worst kind of human, did you know that?"_ Wulf asked as Wardes quickly adapted and ground Ryan's advance to a halt.

_It's not every day you get to pull that on someone! Besides, that was one of my favorite scenes after Mark of Zorro!_

Wardes blocked two more strikes, and sidestepped another before backing up and adjusting his hat. As Ryan turned around to face him, he appraised the young man much more carefully. There was nothing unnatural or instantaneous about his skill, there was care and honing in his movements, like he'd been doing this for years as he claimed. It wasn't the Gandalfr, he was just a twit who was handy with a blade. Then again, the expectation the crowd had shown was not faked. So what was going on?

"Getting cold-feet, Captain?" Ryan asked as he went still again.

Wardes smiled. "No, I was simply wondering if this was all that you had to offer."

"Let's find out!" Ryan lunged again, but Wardes was ready for him. However, when the Captain attempted to deflect the lunge Ryan pivoted and sidestepped the strike to deliver his own–a cut that sliced off the left side of the nobleman's hat and the end of the garish white feather that stuck from it.

Ryan quickly escaped Wardes counterattack, as the crowd roared with the showy strike. Pursuing him with a pronounced vigor, Wardes jabs were aimed specifically to do one thing, keep him moving and on his guard.

"I hope you weren't partial to that hat!" Ryan said apologetically as he was driven back.

"It's nothing easily repaired," Wardes replied. "I'll admit, I'm impressed at your skill but you are lacking in one key area!"

Before Ryan could ask what that was, Wardes thrust his sword forward, and a large sphere of swirling, glowing wind appeared from its tip, striking Ryan in the stomach and pushing him back before he was launched, cartwheeling, through the air and into the wall just below where Louise impacted it earlier in her attempt at dunking. Ryan's sword fell to the ground with a clatter, as Wardes lowered his weapon.

"Ryan!" Louise cried out as he fell from the wall and hit the ground with a comical "Oof". "Are you all right?"

Ryan coughed. "Did he just hit me with a rasengan?"

"A what?"

Ryan sat up and shook his head. "Nothing, don't worry about it."

Wardes rested his free hand on his hip, as he tapped the end of his sword on the ground as their audience cheered. "It's as I suspected. As proficient with a blade as you are, you're still only a commoner–you cannot win against a true mage."

Getting up onto his feet, Ryan gestured that he was all right to Louise, as he walked over and picked up his sword. Holding it up, he nodded to Wardes, and then sheathed his weapon. "A sword's not enough against a wand in this world, is it?"

Wardes was rather blunt. "And because of that, you are not enough to protect Louise."

Ryan frowned. "I disagree with that on principle. You don't need magic to protect someone."

"It goes a great length further than otherwise." Wardes held his blade in salute. "Nevertheless, I enjoyed our spar. If you wish to learn, you're welcome to seek me out anytime."

Ryan nodded. "Sure." He then smiled. "I had fun too."

Wardes looked to Louise. "I will be returning to the palace. It was good seeing you again, Louise."

Louise blushed. "It was good to see you as well, Viscount."

Picking up the scrap of his hat sliced off, Wardes left to join his Knights and ordered them to prepare for departure. The rest of the crowd began to disperse, friends and classmates excitedly commenting on the display they'd just witnessed. Among them were Kirche and Tabitha, the former rather confused.

"Tabitha, that should've gone differently."

Tabitha opened her book. "It went perfectly."

Kirche stared at her quiet friend, and hummed as she pondered this.

* * *

As the Griffin Knights flew off and the last of the crowd left, Louise finally asked Ryan. "Why did you hold back?"

"What, you wanted me to wreck your fiancé?" Ryan asked in amusement.

Louise's eyes widened a bit, before she growled at him. "You were just toying with him the entire time!"

"Toying with him isn't how I'd put it," Ryan said, scratching his nose. "I just showed off my basic skills without any enhancement."

Louise's annoyance was capped when it dawned on her. "You were in perfect control of the Aether that whole time."

Ryan smiled with a hint of pride. "Yep. Controlling Aether isn't always about how you use it, but also how you _don't_ use it. Remember when you tried to dunk?"

Louise looked back up at the court's hoop, and nodded. Ryan continued. "You had the tap open way too wide and literally hit the wall. But! It could've been worse."

He patted Louise on the head. "You could've gone _through_ the wall."

Louise nodded again, and looked around to see one of the balls lying on the grass by the court's edge. She quickly went over to get it, calling back to Ryan as she did, "So this was all part of your lesson?"

"I didn't plan on the Viscount to want to see what I was capable of, but it was a chance to demonstrate as good as any." Plus, it was a great opportunity to try figuring out what Wardes really wanted from the spar.

"_Still a bit paranoid are we?"_ Wulf had caught on to it well.

_He was looking for something. He seemed disappointed after I switched hands, and ended it fairly quickly… I think he was expecting something else entirely._

"_And now you wonder what it was."_

_Exactly._

Louise dribbled the ball as she walked back onto the court. She caught the ball and then looked up at Ryan. "Release the control."

Ryan hummed. "Release it?"

Louise nodded, looking rather resolute. "I can control it this time."

Stepping back, Ryan sat down at the center of the court with arms and legs crossed. He noticed Guiche, Montmorency, and Katie walking over now that most of the other students and faculty had left, and smiled. "Hey Guiche!"

"Good evening, Ingram," Guiche replied. "That was quite the show. Though I am disappointed you didn't show off your true ability."

Ryan smiled. "I didn't want to, but next time I'll show off a little bit. Just don't blink when it happens, or you'll miss it."

He turned his attention to Louise, who dribbled the ball a few more times and then caught it in her hands. "Remember, no traveling."

She glared back at him, before closing her eyes and like before she drew in a great deal of Aether and willed herself lighter. She rose up and down onto her toes, measuring her weight, before she crouched and jumped for the net.

Like a rocket she ascended, Ryan, and the others watching her rapid acceleration and her perfect arc with surprise. Raising the ball above her head, Louise let out a yell as she slammed it into the basket, the force of her arms hitting it causing the top of the pole it was connected to snap. "Huh? Oh no!"

Ryan pointed and nodded. "Now that is how you dunk."

Louise came to a landing, the basket crashing down to the ground alongside her. She took a few deep breaths, and then smiled.

Ryan scratched his nose. "Well, you did it, but don't think that the lesson is over because you did it once."

He got up, and picked up the basket. "Once we get this fixed, we'll be practicing every day until you can control it without causing every human being within thirty feet of you to go into season."

Louise blinked. "What do you mean?"

Ryan hooked his thumb back towards Guiche, who was finding himself being felt up by Montmorency and Katie, who were giving him amorous looks. "M-Montmorency! K-K-Katie! We're in public!"

"Then let's go somewhere private, Guiche," Katie said in a sing-song voice as Montmorency led him away and she pushed.

Guiche, flushing, just smiled and took a sniff from his rose. "Ah, a man once a slave to his lusts, now a slave to lust incarnate. Such is the melancholy of Guiche de Gramont," she said jokingly as he allowed himself to be led away. "Have a good evening, Ingram! Louise!"

Louise, her face bright red, buried her face in her palm. "I can't believe it…!"

Ryan patted Louise on the head, and she peered up at him. He smiled. "At least it's not the whole school this time, you are getting better. Come on, let's go eat dinner and turn in, we'll pick up tomorrow."

Louise smiled back, and followed Ryan back towards the school.

A distance away from the school, heading towards the capital in his personal carriage, Count Mott read over the report written to him by Old Osmond, memorizing it for his report to give to her majesty. As he finished it and rolled it up, he looked at a second, smaller paper rolled up and wrapped in a ribbon with a bit of a smile. He truly enjoyed visiting the Academy, even on business. It had so many lovely women to see, especially those maids.

* * *

A/N: Hello readers, it's the Sage of Toads here and I wanted to talk about a very big issue that has cropped up on the site and is affecting thousands of users, both readers and writers alike. Even as I write this, this issue weighs heavily on my mind. I am referring to, of course, the deluge of petitions that are clogging up the front pages of numerous archives on this site.

Gentle writers and friendly authors, for every petition that gets posted. Another author's work is pushed down, deeper into the recesses of the archive, and off the Just In page, denying views and feedback and worst of all, an opportunity for a reader to enjoy an author's hard work. But! It's not hopeless!

Regardless of what these petitions want, they're spam that must be removed from the site. So go to the bottom of every petition you find on this website, and rather than sign your name and inflate egos, simply use the report function. That way, the moderators know what to destroy, and the message will be sent that no one cares about these petitions flying around.

You can do this, you have the power. Thank you for reading Everything and Nothing, good luck, and Godspeed.


	7. Grey Knighting

Disclaimer: The writer of this story owns nothing, except for Ryan and what dignity he has left.

**Everything and Nothing**  
Grey Knighting

"_No matter what she's accused of or how mysterious her origins are, the hero will always be ready to fight to the death for any girl he met three seconds ago."  
-The Grand List of Console Role-Playing Game Clichés_

**[7.]**

It was another wonderful morning at the academy, with clear skies already getting brighter as the sun neared the horizon to rise. Ryan was sitting outside by a campfire with his tablet hand and a few recipes in mind to cook. Since Louise had a long day of training ahead of her, he decided that he was going to spoil her with a delicious meal right out of his Grandma's cookbook. She deserved that much, at least.

"_You're making your homesickness worse, you know,"_ Wulf pointed out.

"_At the same time, it's helping me cope."_

"Good morning, Ryan."

Ryan jumped slightly, and then turned to find Siesta walking towards him, having been drawn by the smoke coming from his fire on her way to the school's kitchen. He smiled to her and wave. "Good morning, Siesta."

"_Speaking of helping you cope…"_

Siesta looked back, and smiled. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I'm just spoiling the Princess with some breakfast in bed," he replied as he gestured to the pan sitting atop a grate over the fire. "What about you?"

"Oh, I was on my way to work. I didn't want to be late like yesterday, so I got up a little earlier," She replied.

Ryan lightly scratched his nose and chuckled. "Sorry about that, by the way, were you too late?"

Siesta smiled. "No harm was done, in fact after I apologized to Marteau, he said I could've taken the day off."

Ryan's face flushed. "Wait, he knows?"

Siesta sat down beside him. "Oh no, I only told him that I had a hectic morning." She winked before continuing, "Marteau dotes on all of the maids, especially when he thinks we're working too hard."

Ryan nodded. That Marteau, a bit of a strange one, he felt, but a genuinely nice guy. Siesta then looked down at the fire. "Speaking of, you're more than welcome in the kitchen, why are you cooking outside?"

"Oh, well it was a nice morning and since the only reason I'm here is because I decided to camp out, I figured I was going to enjoy some outdoor cooking. There's no better way to cook, if you ask me."

Siesta chuckled. "My father thinks the same way."

Ryan chuckled as he had began stirring up some eggs with milk, salt and pepper.. "So does mine."

Siesta scooted up next to him, and looked down at the pan. "What are you cooking?"

"Nothing fancy, scrambled eggs," Ryan said. "Hand me that cheese please?"

Siesta nodded and fetched a chunk of cheese sitting on a tray of ingredients brought from the kitchen. Ryan nodded his thanks and used a hunting knife to shave cheese into the frying mixture.

"Don't you guys have scrambled eggs?" Ryan asked Siesta.

"Of course, but it's commoner flavor. The nobles expect something more exquisite, so such a thing is prepared only for us staff. If you want Miss Vallière to eat it, you should call it a rare and exotic dish back where you came from." Siesta smiled mischievously. "It's how we got the nobles to eat goose liver and sturgeon eggs while we kept the tastier parts to ourselves."

Ryan laughed. "We say the same thing back home." He grinned at her. "Some things are universal." He frowned. "Or… Trans-universal. Anyway, she'll eat what I tell her to and like it."

Siesta smelled the eggs. "I don't think you'll need to tell her, it smells very good. You should add some meat to it."

"Way ahead of you," Ryan said as he produced a bowl with some chopped up sausage and dumped it into the mix as well.

As it all sizzled nicely, Siesta breathed it in and sighed at the delectable aroma, before speaking, "I saw your spar with the Viscount, you were splendid out there."

Ryan smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He chuckled. "I was tempted to kick his ass but that would just make more trouble for me…"

Siesta laughed. "No one here would have begrudged you for it. In fact, Marteau was so impressed he said he was going to make anything you personally requested as a token of appreciation."

"Huh? Oh, I don't need any of that, as you can see I'm perfectly able to cook for myself." Ryan grinned and winked. "I also clean, repair household items and keep salesmen at bay."

Siesta placed a hand on her cheek in mock amazement. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Beat a true mage, according to some," Ryan joked.

Lowering her hand, Siesta let out another small laugh. "The duel aside, what did you think of the Viscount?"

Ryan continued cooking. "He was alright, I suppose," he replied in a carefully neutral tone. "About as exciting as paint drying… and he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder."

"I'm not familiar with the reference."

Ryan scraped the eggs around the pan as they became fluffy, they were just about finished. "He was pretty eager to fight me and show the difference between commoners and mages."

"Oh, that's just how nobles are." Siesta pressed her hip to his with that, and Ryan became more aware of the fact that they were the only ones out here in the courtyard. "They get to do as they please because they're the nobles and we're the commoners, we can't do much about their magic."

Ryan lifted the pan off the fire and scooped its contents onto a plate. "I don't blame you, even holding back that spell of his hurt."

As he set the pan aside, Siesta rested her chin on his shoulder as she rested her hand on the other. He gave pause when her chest pressed to his arm, and let out a soft sigh as he glanced back at her mischievously smiling face. "It would be nice if we could change how things are."

"I can't see why you can't. The Princess is popular, isn't she, can't you talk to her?" He asked as he returned his attention to setting the pan aside.

"We love the Princess, we really do. But the other nobles… well a lot of them are more trouble than they're worth."

"_You've put the idea in her head,"_ Wulf admonished him.

Ryan smiled back at Siesta, ignoring Wulf for the moment. "That's your prerogative, but I'm not interested in starting or being part of a class war."

Siesta's smile faded and she pulled away from him. "Even when there are nobles worse than the Viscount, who bully commoners with their magic?"

"Jerks exist at every level of society," Ryan replied. "I will stop it when I see it, but I'm not going to turn the world upside down over a few assholes. Trust me, my country is one of the few on my world that rebelled against its nobles and came out halfway decent. Revolutions aren't something you execute on a whim."

Siesta shook her head. "It's wouldn't be on a whim!" She withdrew a little from her outburst. "It's not fair that we have to see the nobles as our superiors simply for being born, and that our only obligation is to serve them because _they_ have magic and _we do not_. It's not fair and it's not right, no one should be subjected to that."

Ryan agreed with that, but as much as he agreed with it, he wasn't going to budge from his guns. However, it was becoming readily apparent to him that Siesta was upset about something in particular. "Siesta, is everything all right?"

Siesta hesitated a bit, and then sighed. "I'm fine, after meeting you and learning about your world. I suppose I'm just envious of it and how everyone there sounds more… equal."

"Well, tell you what," Ryan said with a smile, "When I find a way home, or my friends come to get me, you'll be the first I take along for a visit. Okay?"

Siesta blinked, taken aback. "You'd really do that for me?"

"Of course, why not?" Ryan asked.

She smiled again. "Well, for that I'll be willing to endure. Who knows, if I really like it, I might end up staying!"

"I think you'd like it there," Ryan said. "There are many avenues a woman of your talents could take to become rich, maybe even famous."

He covered up Louise's breakfast, put out the fire, and headed for her dormitory as Siesta joined his side, a flush on her cheeks. "Oh, and what talents would those be?"

Ryan's only response was to laugh.

* * *

Later that morning, after Louise had finished breakfast and another round of Aether training had been completed, she and Ryan were in the library. Ryan flipped through a few of the more ancient tomes, humming whenever he came across something interesting.

"_Six thousand years and there's not much of a history to show for it. It's mainly founder this, elves that, and a few pointless conflicts between the four main nations that ended with the status quo being restored,"_ Wulf noted.

_So this is a world entirely dependant on magic,_ Ryan thought back. _But yours also had magic, so why didn't it turn out like this?_

"_An almost routine cycle of rising and falling civilization and near extinctions. But going by most of these texts, it's pretty clear that there isn't such a mechanism in place here. It feels like a meticulously maintained Zero Sum Game."_

"Geez, it's a sad thing when my world is the most normal one in the multiverse," Ryan mused.

"_There is nothing normal about your world. That internet business you've got is something else, and don't get me started on your ass-backward obsession with vampires."_

_Okay, okay, fair enough,_ Ryan thought back, definitely wanting to avoid another of Wulf's rants about _Twilight_. He skimmed a shelf in the theater section, and gasped when he saw a title. He pulled out the very old tome, blew the dust off the cover, and grinned.

"Yes! You have it! Finally something I recognize!"

He flipped through it, eyes widening. "Holy shit, the complete collection?" He eagerly tore into it, as Louise looked over his shoulder curiously.

"Found what?" She was holding a book on magical theory, one she'd read many times over in her first year, in an effort to overcome her problems. Now that she could perform a form of magic without something exploding, she intended to refresh on it to see if she could apply her new magic in different ways.

"Aristophanes' complete plays," Ryan said with a grin. "In my world we've only got eleven of his plays: You've got all forty!"

Louise didn't understand how that was such a big deal. A bunch of old plays that no one even cared to even perform these days. "That's a weird thing to get excited about."

"Ah, but Aristophanes was a comic genius. A satirist, he wrote the book on mocking people and the absurdities of the powerful and 'wise'," Ryan said with a grin. He cleared his throat and stood up, sweeping his hand around as he gave her a grin. He read a line from the play he'd turned to.

"Mix and knead together all the state business as you do for your sausages!" Ryan spoke condescendingly. "To win the people, always cook them some savoury that pleases them. Besides, you possess all the attributes of a demagogue; a screeching, horrible voice, a perverse, crossgrained nature and the language of the market-place. In you all is united which is needful for governing." Ryan closed the book and grinned as he patted it.

Louise stared at him, blankly. Ryan scowled.

"Oh come on, tell me you got that. What is this, Hogwarts?"

Louise snorted and opened her own book. "It's just a moldy old play. It's not even really funny."

"Not funny?" Ryan asked in disbelief. "Moldy and old? Come on, this is gold! This is human nature!" He smacked the book a few times. "Magic's all well and good but most of what everyone does is deal with the real world. Don't they teach you any of that?"

"This a magical academy, all other study is handled by private tutors," Louise replied.

Ryan blinked. "Private tutors?"

"_Home-schooled,"_ Wulf quipped.

"So, how's your rhetoric young lady?" Ryan asked with a grin.

"Discourse is not my strong point," Louise admitted, before she went wide-eyed and slapped her hand over her mouth. Ryan blinked.

"What about debate?" He asked wryly.

Louise was still embarrassed. "My older sisters are better at rhetoric, my mother says that I'm too 'ill-tempered' to hold a debate for very long."

"So is it Cattleya or Eleanore who is the master debater of your family?" Ryan asked, keeping his face straight… just barely.

Louise huffed. "I wouldn't call Eleanore a master debater, she's just very convincing–HEY!" She just realized it, and the look on her face was _perfect_. Ryan laughed himself sick, falling back onto the table and rolling back and forth.

Louise hit him several times with her book. "You have a disgusting sense of humor!"

"Aristophanes, ladies and gentlemen! The Mel Brooks of Ancient Greece!" Ryan cackled.

She hit him again. "I DON'T KNOW WHO THAT IS!"

"Ahem."

Ryan and Louise stopped to see Miss Longueville standing near another bookcase, her finger brought up to her lips. Ryan smiled apologetically, and slid off the table to sit next to Louise quietly.

"Miss Longueville, how are you today?" Ryan asked pleasantly.

Miss Longueville smiled. "Not as spirited as you are, but I'm doing well. It's going to be very hectic over the next few days, so I'm relaxing as much as I can before then."

Ryan nodded. "Oh, that's right the Princess's visit in a few days."

Louise huffed and opened her book, as Miss Longueville walked over to the two. "With so much commotion going on, it's surprising that she's still going to come."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Like the troubles in Albion?"

"Yes, but there's trouble here as well: Mysterious explosions, and magical thieves running around." Longueville sat down at an empty seat at the table.

That piqued Ryan's interest, and Louise's too, as both paid Miss Longueville closer mind. "A magical thief?" Ryan asked.

"Yes. He's called Fouquet, and he's been targeting noble families for rare and valuable magical artifacts," Longueville explained.

"Huh," Ryan said, scratching his head. "And selling them on the black market?" He guessed there'd be some kind of underground business for magical artifacts.

"Of course not!" Louise huffed. "Family artifacts are so rare that everyone would know what they were and where they came from! Who would buy them?"

"Other nobles?" Ryan suggested.

"That wouldn't be much of a black market though, would it?" Longueville said with a smile.

"What specifically has been stolen, Miss Longueville?" Ryan asked.

"Ah." Old Osmond's secretary smiled secretively. "They're not telling."

"Huh," Ryan said. "So, no black market, no buyers… sounds like someone's just out to humiliate the nobles." He scratched his chin thoughtfully, a dramatic scene playing out in his head. "Probably a former noble?"

"A _former_ noble?" Longueville asked, looking surprised. Ryan nodded.

"Yeah. Revenge."

"Revenge?" Louise asked with a frown. "Someone would go to all this trouble just for revenge?"

"If they wanted it bad enough, why not?" Ryan asked with a shrug. "I mean, think about it. Some nobles ruin, I don't know, a noble household through underhanded means. Like having them declared traitors or something. The family's lost all prestige, probably money, but they've still got magic. Magic is the one thing they can use to fight back." Ryan smiled, leaning back in his chair. "And so they hit the nobles where they are most vulnerable."

"…Their pride," Louise surmised. "Making them look weak, or foolish, or both."

"There, see?" Ryan said, patting the book of Aristophanes' plays. "That's why these old moldy plays are worth something!"

"That passage you read had nothing to do with this situation!" Louise argued.

"Sure it did!"

"What part?"

Ryan was silent for a moment. "Well…"

"Ha! It didn't!"

"Okay, so I meant the plays _in general,"_ Ryan said. Louise smirked.

"That's not what you said!"

Miss Longueville laughed. "Aren't you two energetic? You're almost like lovers, in a way."

The smirk fell right off Louise's face, as her face became a shade of red darker than her rose-colored eyes. She flailed wildly, pointing at Ryan. "This… this cad is not my lover! I'd never call him that even if he were the last man on Earth!"

Ryan glanced over at Louise, and shrugged. "Eh. I could do better."

Louise fired back at that with great ferocity. "Who would want a tall, gangly pervert who makes lewd jokes all the time!"

"Okay, okay, fine, if you weren't engaged to your high and mighty Viscount I'd totally bang you and make you my purring kitty cat sex slave! Does that make you feel better?" Ryan asked, before looking over at Miss Longueville in mock disbelief. "Day in, day out like this, oi…"

Her mouth was moving, but Louise could not find the words to say to what he just brazenly said. Miss Longueville's eyes narrowed benignly. "Mm… for a handsome young man like you, I wouldn't mind that at all."

Ryan smiled back, allowing his eyes to adopt an intense, focused look. "Hn… Well, if you have a pair of cat ears, Miss Longueville, I'd say we're in business," he said in a low, smooth tone. For good measure, he lifted his eyebrows suggestively.

Louise hit him atop the head with her book. "You're the worst kind of person!"

"Owww…!" Ryan glared at her. "You want me to spank you? Because you are asking for it and I've got plenty of books for paddles!"

Louise growled at him. "I dare you, you lecher!"

Miss Longueville got between the two, still very much amused. "My, my, if you're going to go further, I'd advise you continue in the comfort of your own bedroom. You're making an awful lot of noise."

"Fair enough," Ryan said. He stood up, taking Aristophanes' plays with him. "Let's go Louise, you've been a very bad girl indeed."

Naturally, Louise was aghast. "Y-you're not serious!" She took a step back, clutching her book to her chest.

Ryan gestured for Louise to follow as he headed out the door. "Come along Vallière, you're going to gain an appreciation for theater," and here he grinned as he smacked his book against his palm. He led the furiously blushing Louise out, waving goodbye to Miss Longueville.

"Miss Longueville, please, have a pleasant day!"

Miss Longueville waved back. "You as well, and try not to be too loud, all right? There are classes going on."

Departing the library, Louise buried her face in her palm and groaned. "Why are you so embarrassing?"

"Because you're cute when you blush," Ryan said. "That, and you really, _really_ need to loosen up." He reached back and squeezed the back of her neck. "It's like your head is held on with rebar!"

Louise batted his hand away, and looked away from him. "Don't be so grabby, I'm engaged!"

"Right. Of course," Ryan said with a nod. "And as you are now, you two will become a black hole of blandness nothing can escape from." He gave her a wry grin. "Consider this a wedding present." He smacked her bottom lightly with the book and jogged on ahead. "Come on! Lunchtime!"

Louise squeaked and chased after him, brandishing her book. "I'll cave in your skull!"

"Have to catch me first, Princess!"

It was then that Ryan experienced a bit of embarrassment of his own, running straight into Marteau as the good-natured chef rounded the corner. Louise stopped and watched as both men fell to the ground in a heap, and eschewed shock for joy at her perverted master receiving his comeuppance. "It serves you right!"

"Ow…" Ryan glared up at the ceiling. "All right, all right, you've had your laugh. You'd think you'd have gotten tired but no, no, guess I'm still your favorite program…"

Ryan had a tendency to not so much pray to God as complain. A lot.

Marteau sat up, and picked up his chef's hat as he looked to Ryan. "Ah, fancy running into you, Little King!"

"Marteau! It's very nice to see you, how is everything?" Ryan asked as he too rose from the hard floor.

* * *

Within minutes, Ryan and Louise were in the kitchen, seated at a table as the chefs carefully examined the recipe provided to them on the screen on Ryan's tablet.

"Not too complicated, right?" Ryan asked. "It's a Southern recipe, so most of it is love and grease."

Marteau laughed. "There's nothing we can't cook, King, so don't you worry about that!"

Ryan managed to avoid a sigh at the hated nickname, and looked towards the doors leading out to the dining hall. He'd seen a number of maids come and go to set the tables for lunch, but there was no sign of his favorite. "It's about lunch time, where's Siesta?"

Louise, who had been sipping from a glass of juice, stared at Ryan. "Siesta?"

"Yeah. Pretty maid, very nice," Ryan said. He looked to Marteau. "Where is she? Everything all right?"

"You didn't hear it from her?" Marteau asked, genuinely surprised. With how nicely the two of them seemed to get along, he figured she'd have told him. "Siesta was summoned to work for Count Mott, at his estate."

"Count Mott?" Ryan asked. "Summoned? Just like that?" He frowned. She hadn't even told him… Or had she? That resentment towards nobles at the start of the day made a lot more sense. "But she came into work today…"

"She wanted to say goodbye to everyone, and do her last bit of work before she left," Marteau explained.

Louise made a face of disgust. "Ugh, Count Mott? I feel sorry for her."

Though not too sorry, Louise was a bit annoyed that Ryan was off talking to this maid girl without her knowing of it. Ryan frowned. "So what's so bad about this guy, he's the Royal Messenger, isn't he?"

"He's bossy and unpleasant, to say the very least. He harrasses the staff too; Miss Longueville started working here because he drove Old Osmond's previous secretary away." Louise said with no small amount of unpleasantness of her own.

"And he's pressed Siesta into his service," Ryan said with forced calm.

Marteau shook his head. "There's not much we can do about it. When a noble wants something they rarely hesitate to take it, especially if it's a pretty girl. At the very least, Siesta will get paid better than she did working here."

"Paid better," Ryan said in a thoughtful tone, nodding slowly.

"_Of course, a pretty girl like her might end up doing most of her work on her hands and knees… or just on her knees… or on her back…"_ Wulf said quite deliberately, putting the worst thoughts in Ryan's head within an instant.

Ryan stood up from the table, and pushed his chair back in. "Save some lunch for me, I'm gonna go… for a walk."

This excuse fooled precisely no one. Louise got up. "Ryan, you're not going to go cause any trouble, are you?"

Ryan grinned at her. "Of course not. I'm just going to go for a walk… though not to Mott's estate. I've no intention of going there but just in case, what direction is that in so I can know not to go there?"

Louise stood up. "Don't you dare, Ryan!"

Marteau pointed towards the east. "It's an hour's walk in that direction."

Ryan saluted Marteau. "Thank you very much. I shouldn't be gone very long. Louise, stay here and enjoy your lunch."

Standing up, Louise slammed her hand on the table. "I'm not just going to just sit here and…!" Ryan had already walked out the door. Letting out a frustrated sound, Louise slammed her hand on the table. "Fine! Go take your stupid 'walk', but I know what you're going to do!"

He was gone, and Louise dropped back down into her chair, her face flushed with anger. "That lecher, I bet he and that maid…!"

Marteau smiled down at Louise. "Are you jealous, Miss?"

Furious, Louise slammed her hand on the table repeatedly. "DON'T ASK STUPID QUESTIONS! COOK MY LUNCH FASTER!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Ryan was standing outside a large wrought iron gate that was part of a wall that encircled a rather stately manor. It looked like something a statesman of some sort would live in, like a North Korean knock-off of the White house or something.

_How to get in?_ Ryan thought to himself.

He immediately spotted a pair of maid making their way around the estate, heading towards the front doors. One of them was Siesta, and the other was a maid in her mid-thirties, clearly the head maid. He had to admit, Mott certainly knew how to dress up his maids, given Siesta's red maid uniform.

_Sheesh, it's like he got costumes from a Vegas strip club,_ he thought to himself. He hopped up over the wall.

"…If you want to have another walk around the estate, that's fine. You have all day to familiarize yourself with every corner of the building until you're comfortable," The head maid said to Siesta as they reached the steps.

Siesta had been going through her orientation, familiarizing herself with the whole of the house and learning what her duty would be. So far, everything appeared to be going well. The other staff were kind to her, and there actually seemed to be less for her to do than at the academy. However, there was no shaking the feeling that she was being pitied by the other staff, like they knew as much as she did why their master had summoned her to work for him.

"That would be fine," Siesta replied to the head maid with a polite nod.

The head maid nodded. "Do you have any other questions?"

"I do, but they're more directed to the new hire." Both maids jumped and turned to face Ryan, who stood before them with his arms folded. "Why didn't you tell me you had a new job?"

"Who are you? How'd you get in here?" The head maid demanded. Ryan gave her a polite smile.

"Ryan Ingram, and I hopped over the wall. That isn't a problem, is it?"

"Of-Of course it's a problem!" The head maid gasped, shocked at the brazenness of this young man.

Holding up his hands, Ryan waved them. "Ah, don't worry it shouldn't take me very long. I only came to speak with Siesta and I'll be out of your hair."

The head maid however wasn't having it. "Sir, this is a private estate, there are no trespassers permitted." She let out a squeak when Ryan rested his hands on her shoulders and gave her a pointed look. "Ah…?"

"I'll just be a minute," He said as the head maid began to experience a very comfortable warmth that flowed from where his hands rested and coursed downward over and through her body. Her face flushing, the maid nodded to Ryan.

"Please don't take too long…" She said in a slightly shaky voice.

Letting her go, Ryan turned to Siesta, who was still in disbelief. "So, you weren't going to tell me you got a new job? I thought we were friends, Siesta," He lightly chided.

"I… It's not like I had any choice," Siesta defended herself. "If a noble wants a commoner to work for them, you are not allowed to refuse."

Ryan hummed. "I got that much, but why didn't you tell me?"

Siesta sighed and looked downward. There was no mistaking her ashamed expression. Before she could say it, the head maid spoke up, "Count Mott took her in to be his mistress."

"_Called it," _Wulf said.

The air around Ryan became very tense, and seemed to shimmer like it would above hot pavement. Ryan however just nodded thoughtfully, to all outward appearances calm.

"I see… well! I'm just going to have to go talk to Count Mott about returning you to your old job," He cheerfully declared as he turned to go up the stairs. "Where is the Count, by the way?"

"Hey, you! Who are you and how did you get on this property?" Ryan looked back to see a pair of guards wielding pole arms and joined by what could only be described as winged dobermans with pointed tails. Hellhounds?

_Aw man, I want a whole litter,_ Ryan thought enviously.

Wulf was just as envious. _"First griffins, now hellhounds. This universe is wasted on these people!"_

_What are you talking about, you guys have ogres, and dire wolves, and nymphs…_

"_I bet they breathe fire, too."_

_Okay, that is awesome…_

"Well, explain yourself!" the guard who first accosted him demanded as both pointed their weapons at him.

"Gentlemen," Ryan said politely, bowing low to the ground, "I am Ryan Ingram, the familiar of Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. I've been sent to discuss the matter of Miss Siesta's employment with your master, as Lady Vallière considers Miss Siesta a beloved friend and capable servant." He rose, fixing both guards with a confident look while he tailored his body language to say nothing but "Official Business". "Would you kindly direct me to Count Mott so that I might carry out my mistress's orders?"

The front doors opened, much to everyone's surprise, and out stepped Count Mott himself, drawn to the commotion caused by his guards and the growling hellhounds. "Who did you say you were, commoner?"

Wulf laughed. _"Right off the bat."_

"Familiar, if you please Count Mott," Ryan corrected the noble. "Familiar of Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. She considers Miss Siesta," and here he nodded to the maid, "A valued friend and servant and would greatly enjoy a return to her service at the Academy."

Count Mott hummed as he scrutinized the boy. No doubt about it, that was the young man whom Viscount Wardes challenged to a duel and defeated. A skillful swordsman by what he saw, but all Mott saw was a cheeky and disrespectful commoner who was ignorant of his place despite his humbling defeat. The count looked to the maids and his guards and swept his hand dramatically. "I will speak to him in private. You maids go busy yourself elsewhere, guards, with me."

He looked to Ryan and nodded for him to follow before turning and heading back inside. The two guards shoved Ryan along urging him to follow their lord. Ryan shot the one who shoved him a rude look, as he complied. Within moments, the group entered Count Mott's study, the guards closing the doors behind him as the count went over to his chair and picked up his wizarding staff.

"Miss Vallière's familiar, hm? If she's so eager to have the maid back, the young lady can come see me herself," He said as he turned to face Ryan.

"My mistress felt I was sufficient representation," Ryan said, cocking an eyebrow at the count.

At this, Count Mott's eyebrows rose and he chuckled. "You're a convincing actor, boy, but claiming to represent a noble is fraud, a felony in this country. Were Siesta a valued servant to Miss Vallière, Siesta herself would've informed me."

Well crap, Mott had him there. Rather than begin sweating, as the Count had hoped, Ryan simply shifted gears. "All right you got me. I came here on my own, but she's a friend of mine and I would really hate for her to be put into a situation she doesn't like," Ryan said, going with honesty.

He locked eyes with the Count. "And I'm the kind of man who can become very… _very_ _unpleasant_ when my friends are in such situations," he said, the air rippling around him slightly. His hands never went near his sword though–no need to make the Count think he was about to cut him in half.

Count Mott snorted, and began to tug on his thin, curled moustache. "Siesta is a servant of my estate, it's considered a great honor for her to serve a well-known noble as myself. I can't see what part of her situation would be considered unpleasant."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Ryan replied dryly. "However, for some reason beyond the ken of nobles, she does. So what would it take for you to release her from your service?"

Mott was thoroughly amused, such ignorance displayed by this commoner whelp! Well, he could always send the boy off on a fruitless endeavor, while he enjoyed Siesta's _services_ for himself–that would certainly teach the boy a lesson. He gestured to his bookcases. "Look around, as you can see I am a collector of literature from far and wide."

Ryan scanned the shelves and pulled one of the books out. He opened it and thumbed through it. "Huh. Someone's been ripping off 'Songs of Solomon'," He muttered. His eyes widened at a particular passage. "And made some of the metaphors literal," he mumbled, quickly putting the book back. Judging from the rest of the titles, the particular kind of literature Count Mott collected wasn't hard to guess.

"_A porn collector. How quaint,"_ Wulf laughed.

"There is a particular book that I desire. I know nothing in detail about it other than it is erotica that surpasses any made in Halkeginia, and that it is possessed by a Germanian Noble family. Bring it to me and I'll return Siesta to you," Mott instructed.

_Gee, why is this sounding familiar?_ Ryan thought to himself. _Well, can't be the worst side quest I've ever gone through…_

"All right," Ryan said. He closed his eyes, expanded his senses, and then reopened them. He raised his voice.

"Siesta? Can you hear me?" He called.

There was a squeak of surprise on the other side of the door, before it opened and Siesta peeked in. She was not alone, the head maid was watching as well along with a few other maids. "Ryan?"

"I'll be back for you as soon as I can," Ryan said calmly. "If Count Mott tries anything with you that you don't like, please tell me. Because if he does, I will ensure he will have no more need…" And here he turned a deadly gaze to the count, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, "…For pretty maids."

"A commoner threatening the life of a noble is a severe crime," Mott pointed out as he raised his staff. "And I'm an employee of Her Majesty."

Ryan turned away from Mott and walked towards the window. "I wasn't threatening your life, Count. only promising to castrate you if you did anything inappropriate to her while I was out running your errand."

He turned his dangerous look back towards the Count. "It's just to ensure that we're all playing your little game nice and fair."

He turned around, back to the window, and smiled pleasantly at Siesta. "Have a nice day," he said, as he pushed the shutters open behind him, and casually jumped out. Siesta quickly ran over to the window and looked out to call after him… but he was gone.

Siesta blinked in confusion, and looked around. "But… where…?"

Behind her, Count Mott snorted dismissively of the boy. He wasn't going to be intimidated by some lovestruck commoner.

* * *

Louise was in the middle of reading for one of her classes, reviewing her notes carefully and checking them against the tome and the reference books she had checked out. While she may have been unable to do anything but blow things up, she was a _very_ good student. The teacher was out of the room, getting materials for the next lesson, allowing the students to relax and/or prepare.

"Louise!" Ryan shouted, appearing out of nowhere and slamming his hands down on her desk in front of her. She and the other students in the classroom jumped from the sudden outburst. Ryan looked around, as though seeing that he was in a classroom for the first time. He scratched his nose.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Little over excited…"

"Good afternoon, Ingram!" Guiche said cheerfully to the young man. Ryan smiled back and nodded.

"Afternoon Guiche," he returned politely.

"You can't just barge in here, I'm in the middle of study!" Louise snapped at him.

A few seats over, Kirche watched with amusement as Tabitha waved her staff to cast a spell of silence around herself.

"Kind of an emergency," Ryan said, hands resting on her shoulders. "I need to go to Germania to find a book."

Louise stared blankly at Ryan. "What."

"A book! A Germanian family has a book Count Mott wants in exchange for Siesta," Ryan quickly explained. "So, I either need to go to Germania, find a Germanian noble family, or beat up some Germanians to get it. Now, are you going to help me or not?"

Oh great, this Siesta nonsense again. "Who on Earth is this maid and why is she so important to you?"

Kirche hummed in interest. She knew of the commoner maid, even exchanged pleasantries once; that she and Ryan had struck up a rapport surprised her, and made her a little jealous.

"Because she's a friend who is going to suffer a very humiliating and horrible fate and I don't let that kind of thing happen to my friends," Ryan said flatly. "Any more stupid questions or do you want to keep wasting my time?"

Kirche then called out, "You're looking for a particular piece of erotica? I happen to have such a thing."

Louise rolled her eyes. "Of course you would!"

"How do you know which book I'm even talking about?" Ryan asked in disbelief.

Kirche smiled. "Count Mott has asked me about it before, naturally. He was willing to spend a lot of money to purchase it from me."

That bastard was trying to send him off on a wild goose chase, Ryan realized. He wanted to murder him.

"Great!" Ryan said with a somewhat forced smile. "What do you want for it?"

"Oh no, don't you dare go making a deal with that devil!" Louise warned. "You know and I know exactly what she'll want!"

"And…?" Ryan asked, holding out his hands. "So? Therefore?" If he had to bang the slutty Germanian girl to save Siesta from being banged by the fat Tristanian, so be it.

Kirche let out a sigh of mock exasperation. "Vallière, must you think so low of me?"

"Because I've known you long enough, you over-ripened harlot!"

Kirche glared death at Louise. "Hey, Vallière, did you just call me a–."

"I said it."

Montmorency and Guiche together leaped from their seats to disarm Kirche of her wand and hold her back as she attempted to breathe fire at Louise.

Ryan facepalmed. "For the love of God Louise, _priorities_! This is a young woman's life we're talking here!"

Louise only grew more defensive. "It's not worth jumping into bed with Zerbst. Nothing ever is."

"I will set your hair on fire!" Kirche snapped at her, but went ignored.

"You're just being petty," Ryan argued.

"I am not! You shouldn't go around crossing people like Count Mott! Just forget about the whole thing!" Louise snapped at him, slamming her hands on the table.

Tabitha closed her book and looked over when she heard the smack of Louise's hands on the wooden surface. Her silence spell was tuned to filter voices but not other ambient sounds in case the teacher returned.

She watched the exchange between Ryan and Louise, reading their lips.

Ryan sighed, and patted his sword. "Well, I guess I'll have to go kick his ass and rescue Siesta. Later!"

"WHAT?" Louise shrieked, jumping out of her chair. "You can't, you'd get us both in tremendous trouble!"

"What? Won't take very long," Ryan said, as though missing Louise's point entirely.

"He's the Princess's messenger, an employee of the castle, you can't just attack him!"

"Well if you're not leaving me with any other choice then yes, I can and I _will,"_ Ryan stated matter of factly.

"No!" Louise growled, glaring at the far wall with her back held to Ryan. "Honestly, he only took her on as a maid. What do you think's going to happen to her that's so horrible!"

Ryan sighed… and narrowed his eyes.

_All right, she asked for it,_ Ryan thought. He leaned across the table. "You want to know what he's going to do to her? I'll _tell_ you what he's going to do to her. First, he'll…"

Tabitha had to stop reading Ryan's lips, his descriptions started at from vile then went straight to disgusting and just kept sliding down. He waved his hands around, before bringing them together. He lewdly thrust his middle finger through a circle formed by his index finger and thumb, then three fingers, then four, then his entire fist was thrusting through the gap in his cupped hand. Louise shuddered, but held her ground.

Ryan then grabbed the air in front of him and rolled his hips violently, still talking. He waved one of his hands in the air as though spanking the space ahead of him, and then he lifted his hands to the sides of his head. He held fingers up high, as though giving himself horns, and then moved his hands back to trace the shape of wings on his back, before they came down, up and around into a point-Almost like he was describing a devil. He then slammed his hands back down on the table and resumed humping the air as he just kept _talking._

Louise cringed, and tried to cover her ears. She was green, and trembling. She looked as though she was trying not to throw up. One of the students yelled at Ryan, something along the lines of "DEAR BRIMIR IN HEAVEN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF DECENCY!"

Ryan didn't relent. He drew Wulf, thrust it up and down, and twirled it…

"UGH! YOU WIN! YOU WIN!" Louise cried, turning around with her ears covered. "JUST STOP!"

"Oh good!" Ryan said cheerfully, re-sheathing his sword. "Thank you very much Louse, for being so compassionate."

That he was being entirely sincere seemed to just piss Louise off even more. The pink haired mage grumbled something unflattering to Ryan's ancestors as she stalked over to the waiting Kirche. "Zerbst! Give Ryan that book so he can give it to Count Mott."

Kirche, who had been ready to burst into flame a few moments before, immediately brightened. "Okay."

Ryan smiled. "Thanks! What do I owe you?"

Louise rolled her eyes, as Kirche smiled seductively to Ryan. "Oh, I don't want anything at all, I'm just happy to help."

Louise did a double take. "Wait, what?"

"My parents left it with me as a wedding gift for my future husband to get him in the mood." Kirche sniffed and then posed. "Do I look like I need a book to get a man's blood rushing?"

Ryan smiled. "You certainly do not!" He bent down to whisper in Louise's ear. "Don't complain, just thank her." He sure as hell wasn't going to.

"Th… th… th…" Louise sighed, and as though she was swallowing something _very_ foul, "…_Thank you_."

"You're welcome," Kirche said, laughing low in her throat. Ryan grabbed Louise's hand.

"Well, let's go! Sooner she's out of his clutches the better," Ryan said, leading the mage to the door.

"Wait."

Everyone looked to see Tabitha stand from her seat and pick up her staff. Using a wind spell to pick up her books, she followed Ryan and Louise to the door, and nodded to them before heading for the nearest exit. Kirche blinked and followed. "Tabitha, you want to go with them?" She called after the generally silent mage.

Ryan hummed. "Well, today gets even more interesting. I get to rescue a friend from being a notch in someone's belt, and ride a dragon to do said rescue." He grinned. "_Awesome_."

* * *

Up in his office, Old Osmond glanced around suspiciously before he reached into his desk and removed his pipe, which he carefully and quietly packed. To his side, Miss Longueville seemed completely immersed in a book and thus unable to chide him for getting a quick puff or two in. If he could choose, he'd be taking this golden opportunity to have a bit of 'old man fun' at her expense, but she was pulling her punches less so it was safer to just smoke.

With a quiet chuckle at his own sneakiness, he prepared to light the pipe, before it floated out of his grasp. "Hm?"

He looked over to see Miss Longueville waving her wand at him. Pouting, he sat back and looked out his window, for the first time pondering possibly moving Miss Longueville to another department so he could have a secretary who was a little more fun. It was then that he noticed Tabitha's Wind Dragon familiar lift off from the courtyard below and fly away, carrying four passengers.

"That Ingram boy and Miss Vallière should really consult me before running off like they do," He commented.

That piqued Miss Longueville's interest. "Oh? Would you like me to follow them, Headmaster?"

Old Osmond glanced back to Miss Longueville. "If you can catch up with them, I'd appreciate it."

* * *

Siesta was worried, as she paced around the second floor of Mott's estate, already glancing out the windows towards the courtyard in the hope that Ryan returned. Going all the way to Germania for her sake, and even threatening a noble to his face, the young maid was overwhelmingly struck by the gesture. Nevertheless, she was worried, it felt like that this was going to end with someone getting hurt, and that was the last thing she wanted, especially for her sake.

"Do you think he'll really come back?" The head maid asked Siesta, who glanced over to her. Siesta nodded.

"He's a strange boy, but he's a good person," She replied.

The head maid nodded. "I hope so, it's kind of romantic don't you think? Like a knight coming to rescue a princess."

Siesta faintly blushed at that observation, before Count Mott called to Siesta. "Standing around will not make time go any faster, Siesta. You should be familiarizing yourself with the mansion."

"Oh, of course." Siesta bowed her head and sighed. Coming up from behind her, Mott rested his hands on her shoulders and leaned close.

"You were hired to be more than merely my maid, and with it you have privileges that no other under my employ are entitled to." He ran his hands down from her shoulders to her upper arms, as tensed under his touch. "Simply forget about the boy, and I'll treat you like a queen."

Siesta's tension did not abate, as she looked away from him. "Count…"

"Are you lovers? You and that commoner boy?" He asked, before he whispered in her ear, "Tonight, I'll show you how much greater a noble's touch is, compared to a dirt commoner's."

Siesta cringed when she felt his breath against her neck. At that moment the head maid noticed something out the window, a rapidly approaching dot in the sky. Blinking, she pointed to the sky. "Look, something's coming! I think it's a dragon!"

Siesta looked out in surprise. Indeed, there was a dragon rapidly approaching the mansion and Siesta recognized it right away. "That's Miss Tabitha's…"

Outside, Count Mott's guards looked up when Sylphid's shadow passed over them. Sure enough they spotted the blue dragon and its occupants riding its back. Going to the window, Count Mott was surprised to see Ryan riding along with Kirche, the very Germanian who owned the book he'd hoped to send the boy halfway across the continent to retrieve.

"He couldn't have, so soon?" He'd hoped the boy would be gone for at least a day, and it had been barely an hour. Quickly, he ran for the stairs, to summon his security.

"I wonder what all of that commotion is about," Kirche said as she peered down at the half-dozen polearm wielding soldiers rushing to the courtyard, and watching their descent. Count Mott himself emerged, holding his staff. "Oh, are they coming to greet us?"

Tabitha looked down and nodded. "Intimidation."

Ryan agreed. "What a petty man, thinking he can push me around." He grinned. "Besides, he's not even trying to intimidate me _properly."_

He looked over to Tabitha. "Take us down, Tabby."

Tabitha only gave him a cold, lingering look before she instructed Sylphid to come in for a landing, just inside the gates of the estate. Ryan was the first one off the dragon, with Louise landing directly behind him. Kirche and Tabitha disembarked next, staying behind the two and close to the dragon.

Almost immediately, Mott's hellhounds surrounded them as his guards took up a defensive position in front of their master, who moved himself close to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. Louise noticed this, and whispered to Ryan. "Count Mott specializes in water magic."

"He could be a master of breakdancing and it wouldn't make a difference," Ryan replied as he stepped forward. He reached into one of the pockets of his belt, and he pulled out a book wrapped up in a protective cover. "Count Mott, I've brought your book as ordered. Though, I have to admit trying to put me on a wild goose chase wasn't very sporting."

"You're just not making this any fun, commoner," Count Mott returned with a sigh.

"Yeah, well the game is over. Here's your silly porn, give me back my maid." He tossed the book over the heads of Mott's dogs and guards and it landed at the Count's feet.

Count Mott's eyebrows rose, when the coveted book was simply thrown to his feet. He knelt down and picked it up. The cover even had the key attached, and he did not waste a second in unlocking and peering at its contents. "Yes, this is indeed the book. The summoned book of erotica unequaled in Halkeginia, an excellent addition to my collection."

He closed the cover back up, and looked to Ryan. The young man smiled back pleasantly, expectantly, so of course Mott held up his end of the bargain. "You may leave now."

Or not. Ryan blinked as the hellhounds growled threateningly. "Excuse me?"

"I will return Siesta, at such a time when her services will be no longer required at this estate. It should not be very long, a night or two at most" Count Mott replied.

Louise was offended. "But we brought you the book!"

"Yes, and I agreed to return Siesta. Terms were not agreed as to when." Mott sniffed dismissively towards the boy and his entourage. "But as I said, I'll return her when I am finished with her."

The air shimmered a bit again around Ryan, and Louise felt her own body become warm from the excess seeping through the rune on her hand.

Tabitha looked from Mott to Ryan, and saw where this was headed. "When a commoner draws a sword towards a noble…"

Kirche translated Tabithanese. "If a commoner draws his sword on a noble, it's considered a duel on the spot and the noble is free to use any magic at his disposal."

"She's right Ryan, don't let him goad you!" Louise pleaded.

Count Mott snorted. "You should be grateful I gave you a chance to have the maid back at all, commoner. It's not everyday that nobles grant such favors to low folk as yourself."

"This is the only way you can get an erection, isn't it?" Ryan asked quite calmly, even though his face was full of thunder. "Lording your titles and bloodline over others. You get off on it, don't you?"

Count Mott recoiled at that. "Get a… how dare you a commoner insult a noble?"

"Oh please," Ryan snorted. "You're about as intimidating as a horny purse dog." The air around him was practically vibrating now. "Tell you what, Count Mott. I'll give you a chance to reconsider and allow me to take my maid back and leave your home in peace, right now. Otherwise," and he fixed a deadly gaze onto Mott. "I swear by my pretty red hood that _I_ _will end you_."

Siesta covered her mouth, with both hands, as Mott let out a rather angry laugh. "You amuse me, boy. Even after your sound defeat at the hands of the Viscount you have the gall to threaten another mage? You're welcome to attack me with all your strength, but you'll drown where you stand. I am known as 'The Crashing Wave' for a reason, boy."

He held up his staff and pointed it at Ryan. Ryan then shrugged and began walking towards Mott and his men.

"Take your best shot then," Ryan said, scratching his nose negligently as he gripped his sword with his other hand and began to draw it. "Ladies, you may want to step back."

"Ryan, don't," Louise hissed. "Please, don't!"

Kirche prepared to draw her wand, when Tabitha stopped her and shook her head. "Don't make your country look bad."

With a snort, Mott called out to his hellhounds. "Attack!"

The winged demon dogs quickly lowered themselves to attack position as Ryan continued to slowly draw his sword. Before they could lunge, Ryan looked down at them, and the moment the sword left the sheath, a faint shockwave rushed out from his feet. The guards and Mott himself barely felt the burst, but the dogs went rigid, and flew into a hysterical panic, barking and yelping as they quickly scattered in desperate bid to get away from Ryan, with some outright taking to the sky and flying away fast as they could.

Mott recoiled in surprise. "What?" He looked at Ryan's sword, the blade giving an unearthly glow in the afternoon sun, and chuckled. "Impressive trick, but like yesterday you're facing a true mage, Mott the Crashing Wave!"

Ryan rubbed the side of his face with his free hand. "This isn't a wrestling match, idiot, show don't tell."

Mott confidently waved his wand, and the fountain behind him came to life like a geyser, blasting up a deluge of water that surged straight at Ryan.

Ryan lifted his hand from his face and held it towards the torrent surging towards him, and then clenched into a fist. In an instant, there was a loud crack, almost like thunder, as the water spell was blasted back straight into Mott and his guards.

The guards were bowled over instantly by the blast of water. Mott managed to remain standing however, sputtering as he regained control of his water and pulling it into a circular barrier that swirled around him. His eyes widened as he saw Ryan was no longer standing in front of him.

"Wha-Where-!"

Mott hit the ground face first, knocked over by a powerful force from behind. Thanks to the water from his barrier collapsing around him, the ground was now muddy and he got back up dirty, wet and sputtering.

Ryan was standing on the edge of the fountain, twirling his sword in one hand as he held Mott's coveted treasure in the other. "You know, I got a look at this precious book of yours on my way here, and I have to say you're a waste of a human being for coveting what in _my_ world would be third-rate porn at best."

He slipped the book back into his belt pocket. "Add in the fact you're a double crossing, lying, lecherous creep and man, I'm going to have to get downright _vulgar_ when I talk about you, Count."

Kirche was stunned, while Louise simply had her face buried in her palm. Tabitha, as in every instance she'd witnessed Ryan engage in combat so far, watched him raptly. Up in the mansion, Siesta and the head maid were slack-jawed with shock. They hadn't even seen Ryan move, and they could clearly see that Ryan hadn't a drop of water on him.

Mott wiped the mud from his face, also in disbelief. That was impossible, that speed was nothing short of magic, but this boy was a commoner familiar.

"No, this is impossible, how could this be?" Ryan said mockingly. "Now that we've got that out of the way…"

Mott snorted. "Don't think you're faster than me, for you see I can also do this!"

He waved his staff, and several jets of water shot up around him, before transforming into ice spears and firing at Ryan like bullets out of a rifle. The boy tilted his head and dropped his shoulders, allowing them all to shoot past harmlessly.

"That's slow," Ryan replied as the fountain fell to pieces behind him, cut down by the spears.

Count Mott took a step back, his eyes widened. "What?"

He cracked his neck. "My turn."

Ryan vanished, and Mott was blown off his feet by a blow to the stomach that felt like a punch from a fist made of stone. A second blow struck him from behind while he was in mid-air, and he was sent flying face first into the fountain with a tremendous splash.

One of the guards got up and reached for his spear, but it was kicked away by a hiking boot-clad foot. "Stay down," Ryan said sternly, turning back to face the fountain as Mott emerged, his face a mask of cold rage.

"So, you are a mage…" Mott said as he wiped a bit of blood that seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Ryan began walking towards Mott, his footsteps leaving shimmering ripples across the surface of the puddles caused by the skirmish. "No, I'm not," he said, annoyed. "But I can call myself that if it makes you feel better about me kicking your flabby ass."

Mott raised his staff. "Mage or not, you're still a boy against a Triangle level mage!"

Spears of ice lanced up from the very water beneath Ryan's feet, but they simply hit nothing. It was as though Ryan had stopped existing altogether. Mott stared at the spot Ryan had been standing, and then froze when he felt the blade of Wulf rest against his shoulder.

"Are you done?" Ryan asked, "or do I need to take your arms?" He growled low in his throat.

Kirche just blinked rapidly as she tried to process what she was seeing. "He's…"

"Oh my…" Siesta whispered.

Count Mott slowly looked back, and saw Ryan was standing over him. He looked down, and sure enough the boy was standing on the surface of the water, the same shimmering ripples radiating from under his feet. It wasn't frozen, there didn't seem to be any force holding him up, he was simply standing on it.

"I gave you a chance to take your prize, let me take my maid home, and leave you in peace," Ryan said softly. "That offer is still open, Count Mott. If you want to prove that you've got brains at all, take it. If not…" He fell silent.

Count Mott looked at the blade, which inched closer to his neck, and then bowed his head. "I… I yield…"

Ryan didn't take the blade away. "Siesta!" He shouted. "Get out here! We're leaving."

A few moments later, the doors burst open and out came Siesta, struggling to carry her suitcase with her as she scrambled over to Ryan. Ryan retrieved the porn magazine, and handed it to Mott. Only then did he withdraw his blade and sheath it.

"Now… if you wish to make trouble for me or anyone associated with me, that's your prerogative Count Mott," Ryan said. "However, I could have slain you at any time in our duel, and chose not to." His eyes were full of death when Mott looked into them, and the count had to break their gaze with a shudder. "I suggest you remember that when you think of your bruised pride. Have a nice day." He turned and walked towards the front gate, Siesta following at his heels.

"Ryan, that… that was incredible!" Kirche said.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders, having pretty much summed up the Count's antagonistic behavior. "He's just a mage in a midlife crisis. There's nothing incredible about that-OOF!"

Siesta had dropped her suitcase and tackled him from behind. When they hit the ground, she was nuzzling his back, overjoyed. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"_A Triangle Mage, no problem. A maid, that you have no defense against,"_ Wulf commented, amused.

"_Shut up!"_ Ryan thought back, unable to help a laugh. "Okay, okay, you're welcome! You're welcome, please don't kill me!"

When Ryan turned over, Siesta enthusiastically kissed him, prompting both Louise and Kirche to recoil in shock.

"Mmph," Ryan commented intelligently, unable to help returning the kiss a little before he gently pushed her back. "Hahaha!"

Siesta sat up, her face flushed. "Ah, I'm sorry… it's just you have no idea how horrible that was and how glad I am you came back. He was going to take me to his bed tonight!"

Ryan grimaced. "Please, don't tempt me to change my mind about _not_ killing him," he groaned. He smiled and hugged the maid. "Relax, you're safe now. I bet Old Osmond will hire you back in an instant."

"He'd never turn down a pretty girl," Kirche joked, though, she did seem a little bit… disappointed? Maybe, that's how it came off to Ryan.

He turned to Louise and smiled. "You should thank Louise and Kirche too, Siesta."

Siesta stood up and bowed to Louise, who also looked like she'd been kicked, but for a different reason. "Thank you, Miss Vallière, Miss Zerbst. I'll repay you any way you like, I'll even be your personal maid!"

Louise saw the way Siesta looked at Ryan, and had a few ideas as to how _personal_ she might be. She flushed a bit at the thought. "Do what ever you want! He did all the fighting, why don't you be his maid?"

Siesta brightened. "I'd like that very much." She turned to Ryan. "You wouldn't be against that, would you?"

"No, but I don't know how I'll pay you," Ryan said, scratching his head. He glowered.

_Shut up._

"_I didn't say a word," _Wulf laughed.

"You don't have to pay me, I owe you a debt, and I'm happy to pay it back to you," Siesta replied.

Ryan sighed. "Well, as long as Old Osmond will still pay you, I'll be fine with that." He smiled at Louise. "Shall we… Mistress?"

"Let's get out of this place," Louise said before she let out an annoyed sigh. "The Princess is going to be so cross with me when she hears about it…"

"I could do my explanation of what he was going to do to her," Ryan said with a little smirk. "That might convince her to-"

"Do it and I'll hurt you!" Louise growled.

"Just saying, just saying…!"

As the group climbed aboard Sylphid and departed for the school, Miss Longueville rode up on her horse and disembarked from it to find the courtyard a mess, the fountain ruined, and Count Mott getting shakily onto his feet as his men did the same. Looking back towards the departing dragon for a moment, she turned back to face Count Mott.

"Your excellency, what just happened here?" She asked.

Count Mott looked at Miss Longueville, and then down at the book, still in its protective cover. He let out a brief chuckle, and then tossed it aside. "I had a truly humbling experience, Miss Longueville."

Miss Longueville blinked. "Ah?"

Count Mott dropped his staff and walked for his home, chuckling again. "He let the Viscount win… the fool has no idea…"

Miss Longueville just stared, and then looked back towards Sylphid's figure shrinking in the distance.

Interesting.

* * *

By dinner, news of the encounter at Count Mott's estate had spread to every corner of the school, albeit with several details omitted by Ryan and those who witnessed it. All that was important, was that a well-known and high ranking member of Princess Henrietta's court had gotten into it with a mere commoner, and was humiliatingly defeated for it. As the students debated over the events, the commoner staff were simply celebrating the result, especially Marteau: They got one of their own back, and she was happy to be back.

"Alas, if I'd only been there, I would've happily fought by your side!" Guiche lamented to Ryan as the former finished telling the story to him, Montmorency, and Katie. Guiche held up his rose, eyes sparkling. "Two chivalrous knights, fighting side by side against a corrupt and unseemly noble. It'd be the start of a legend!"

Katie's eyes also sparkled as she imagined the scene, while Montmorency rolled hers. Ryan laughed, and nodded to Guiche. "Guiche, if there's anybody I'd like to have my back in a battle, it'd be you."

He may be a pretty-boy fop, but Ryan knew a dependable guy when he saw one. Guiche of course took this as a high honor. "Then don't leave me out next time, Ingram! On your next adventure, you know who to turn to."

Montmorency looked over to Louise, who was still brooding over this somewhat and took her aside. "Men can be so foolish." She said with a defeated sigh. "Still, at least their hearts are in the right place."

Louise just sniffed and quietly replied. "I don't know about that. There's not much difference between him and Count Mott."

Montmorency blinked. "What?"

Louise huffed. "He only went through all of this trouble so he could have Siesta for himself. He didn't want that slimy old pervert's hands all over _his_ maid."

"What's wrong with that? I can't think of any woman who would want to be subjected to what Ryan described," Montmorency said with a shudder. Thanks to that, she didn't think she was going to be intimate with either Guiche or Katie for a few nights.

Louise cast a glare over to Ryan, as he explained the concept of "Back to Back Badasses" to Guiche and Katie, before she looked back down at the ground. "He's no better than Mott."

At that moment, Siesta arrived, carrying a pot with several containers stacked atop it. "Oh, Ryan!"

Ryan looked over. "Siesta, what's all of that stuff you're carrying?"

Siesta lowered the containers so she could see over them properly. "Oh, Marteau and the others threw me a feast, but I was tired from today so I decided to take the extra food they had home with me. H-have you had dinner yet?"

"No, I haven't." Ryan smiled. "But if you're offering…"

Siesta shook her head. "Just humbly requesting your company…" She smiled warmly to him. "…Master."

Louise set her teeth, but said nothing, as Ryan smiled back. "I'd be honored. Besides, you look like you could use help with that." He looked to Guiche and Katie. "Guiche, Katie, I'm going to have to excuse myself for the night. You two have a good one."

"Of course, Ingram. I'd wish you a good evening but you're well on your way to having one." Guiche replied.

Siesta blushed at that, as Ryan took most of the bowls, leaving her with the pot. Smiling back to Guiche, he looked over to Louise. "If you need me, just call and I'll be there, Louise. You have a good night, you too Montmorency."

Montmorency bowed politely, while Louise just mumbled something and nodded. As Ryan and Siesta walked towards the servants' quarters, Louise watched them and huffed in annoyance.

"He's only been here a few days, and he's taken in that maid as a lover," Montmorency realized as she watched how Siesta looked up at Ryan.

Louise nodded. "Yes."

She took a deep breath, and let it out with an even more annoyed huff.

"…But he already has a lover, back where he came from."

* * *

A/N: I've nothing political to say here, but I'd like to extend a special thanks to those who responded to my previous chapter's notes with maturity and sensibility. Even though you disagreed with my views, you presented yourself in a polite and up front fashion. I only wish everyone could be so committed to discourse without resorting to name calling, swearing, atrocious grammar, and threats.


	8. Drawing a line in the Sand

Disclaimer: Thank you for your Disclaimer. -Fouquet of the Sand

**Everything and Nothing**  
The Thief and the King

_Drawing a line in the sand_

**[8.]**

The secret garden and its secret boat, located along the edge of a large lake immediately adjacent to the Vallière estate weren't actually secret, but it was a secluded and beautiful spot for six year old Louise to hide when she wanted to get away from her mother's scolding. It was in the boat that she sat, on the opposite side of a small island in the middle of the pond, up in tears over the latest failure in her magic studies. Her older sisters were exceptional at magic when they were six while she couldn't even do a simple cantrip, but what hurt the most was to hear everyone talk about how poor of a mage she was… as if she couldn't hear them.

She was crying, had been for a while, when she noticed someone standing on the island. It was the Viscount, tilting the brim of his hat up as he smiled to her. "Louise, have you been out here crying?"

"J-Jean-Jacques…" Seeing the person she admired so much chased away her sadness. "What are you doing here?"

With a wave of his wand, Wardes guided the boat close to the island and climbed aboard. He sat down across from his young future bride. "I was invited to speak to your father about the engagement."

Louise's gaze fell downward, and her sadness returned, reinforced with anxiety. Her parents had sounded so upset with her performance in her magic studies, they couldn't be considering… "Is Father going to break off the engagement?"

She was on the verge of tears again, afraid that she'd be punished for being what Eleanor called her, a zero. Seeing this, Wardes just shook his head. "Of course not, Louise."

Louise wiped her eyes. "R-really?"

"Why would you think that?"

She looked downward. "My magic studies are very poor. Mother says I might not be a mage at all. Eleanore keeps picking on me, and even the servants are talking behind my back…"

Wardes let out a kid sigh. "Louise, you're still a child. Simply because your magical talents have not appeared yet, doesn't mean that they aren't there. Ignore what they say."

Louise sniffled. "But what if I don't have magic? I want to be as great a mage as Mother, not a zero! I don't want to be no better than a commoner! I don't want our engagement to be broken because of me!"

The teenaged Viscount smiled as he rubbed the top of her head. "Even if you have no magic, that won't change our engagement."

Louise looked up at Wardes, with awe. "Really, Jean-Jacques?"

He nodded. "You have the potential to become a great woman, mage or not. You shouldn't let those kinds of doubts cloud your mind."

Shimmering ripples began to spread across the surface of the lake, crossing under the boat and illuminating its occupants as Louise smiled up at the man she idolized. "Jean-Jacques…"

"Hey Princess, is this really your most cherished memory of this bland guy?"

Now fifteen years old, Louise looked quickly to the right, to see Ryan walking towards her across the surface of the lake. His hands were in the pockets of his hoodie as he strolled right up to the boat. He looked over at Wardes and rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, this is about as touching as a toothpaste commercial."

"W-what are you doing here?!" Louise gasped as she stood up in the boat, rocking it. Ryan looked at her and shrugged, flashing that infuriating grin of his.

"Here to stop a terrible crime. This guy will bore you to death if you're not careful."

Wardes stood up, now his current age, and drew his sword/wand. "Cheeky as usual, commoner."

Louise looked from Ryan to Wardes, hoping to plead for them to stop from escalating… but Ryan was already standing on the boat, directly behind Wardes, with his back to him.

"This from the guy with the charisma of Wonderbread," Ryan said flatly. "I'd rather be cheeky than as exciting as a bar of soap."

Before Wardes could react, the boy elbowed him in the back, sending him tumbling over the side of the boat and into the water with a splash. Louise looked from the spreading ripples and bubbles on the lake's surface to Ryan. "W-why did you do that?!"

She let out a squeak, and her face flushed entirely when Ryan leaned down and cupped her cheek with one hand. He smiled and shrugged.

"I wanted to play with my kitten," he said as he reached up and played with the black-furred cat ears that were now inexplicably sticking from the top of Louise's head. He scratched behind them, and Louise trembled at the shock of pleasure that shot through her body.

"N-nya…" Louise managed to squeak before Ryan kissed her.

Louise bolted upright in bed, her skin flushed from her cheeks down to her neck, and her whole body warm and shaking. She panted for breath, her fingers clutching at the sheets as she tried to calm down. Great, now that perverted fool was invading her dreams.

She reached up and felt the top of her head, before withdrawing them with a grumble upon finding no cat ears. She was just being foolish, letting his teasing and his cavalier manner get to her like this. Besides, he was probably fooling around with that maid girl.

Louise looked around the room, sure enough there was no sign of him anywhere to be found. Laying back down, she closed her eyes and contacted the Aether. In the days that had gone by since the incident with Count Mott, Ryan had begun teaching her a new trick, the ability to feel others across a link of Aether. As the two of them were the only Aether users on the planet (he checked), it would be easy for Louise to find Ryan at any time.

Unfortunately, it also allowed her to sense what he was doing at that very moment. Or more specifically, _who_he was doing at that very moment… vigorously. With a cry of shock, Louise dropped the connection and covered her brightly flushed face.

"That perverted DOG!" She looked around for her clock. "He's doing that this late at…"

She stopped and stared blankly when she realized that it was almost dawn. Looking out the window confirmed this, the sky was growing brighter at the horizon. She lowered her head and sighed, what an awful way to start the morning!

* * *

A half hour later, Louise was still cursing Ryan's name as he and Siesta headed to the kitchen to fetch breakfast. Ryan could feel her agitation across the link, and figured bringing her up a nice breakfast would help cool her off. It'd probably help him cool off too, he was a little annoyed that Louise barged into his head at that most inopportune time.

"It happens to everyone, you don't have to be embarrassed." Siesta sounded reassuring, but there was no denying the amusement in her voice at his plight.

"I'm not embarrassed!" he quickly yelped. His face was red as he looked to the side. "I'm annoyed, that's all."

"That you're embarrassed?" Siesta asked.

"More that she can sense everything I do," Ryan said. "I've had enough experience with strangers in my head. It's not fun to have another."

"_Stranger nothing! I'm symbiotic, useful, wise, experienced, powerful,"_Wulf retorted.

_Modest._

"_What use is false modesty?" _Wulf returned with a laugh.

"Oh shut up, you!" he yelled aloud in annoyance.

Siesta, having been properly introduced to Ryan's plight involving his inner dialogue, laughed in amusement.

"I still can't imagine having someone in my thoughts like that all the time. It must be very noisy in your thoughts."

_"Tell her that it's actually quiet in here most of the time."_

Ryan promptly punched himself in the head and looked to Siesta. "If you want, I'll let you hold onto him for a bit."

"N-no, once was enough," she quickly replied.

_"Besides, she's already a sheath for another valuable blade of yours."_

Ryan punched himself in the head again and received an agitated _"ow!"_in reply. It was only then that he noticed that the two of them were being watched by an obviously perturbed Miss Longueville.

"Are you all right?" She managed awkwardly.

Both Ryan and Siesta stared back, before the former cleared his throat. "Yes of course, I was just trying to shock myself awake is all. I hardly got any sleep last night."

The awkwardness cleared as Miss Longueville smiled slyly. "Oh? The both of you?"

Siesta flushed slightly. It bloomed fully when Ryan put on a pleased smile and replied, "That's about right, yes."

_How scandalous_, Miss Longueville thought. Before she could pry further and maybe tease the maid a bit, Ryan swiftly changed the subject.

"So, what has you up so early, Miss Longueville?"

"Me? Oh I was actually on my way to get some sleep. I've been up for much of the night like you."

Ryan's brows rose. "Doing what?"

"Guard duty. The Palace has sent a rare and destructive artifact to the school for us to protect. With the Princess visiting today, everyone is worried that thief might show up."

"Fouquet, right?" Ryan asked.

"The very same."

Ryan hummed. "So what's being stashed here that's worth the risk of stealing while the Princess and her entourage are here?"

"It is called 'The Staff of Destruction', a weapon so powerful that it can kill a dragon with a single casting."

_"This I've got to see!"_Wulf immediately declared.

Ryan was every bit as skeptical. "Dragons are probably different here than from where I'm from, but that sounds like a bit of a stretch to me."

"I find it just as suspicious, but Old Osmond saw it used himself, and he wouldn't make something like that up."

"Honest guy?"

Longueville's expression darkened. "A bit too honest."

_Ah, the proverbial "Perverted Master",_Ryan thought.

_"Like you're any better, judging her to be a middle C to a lower D."_

Ryan began reciting some crappy late 90s Ska in his head and Wulf howled in agony.

"Something like that should definitely not end up in the hands of a thief…especially one with a hate-on for nobles," he said.

"A 'hate-on'?" Miss Longueville and Siesta asked together.

Ryan went to explain the term, but stopped. Explaining it crudely to the two was just in poor taste. "It's when you really hate someone, it's to have a hate-on for."

With luck, he created a meme. "So, what are the odds that Fouquet can break in?"

"Next to none," Miss Longueville replied proudly. "The barrier to keep out intruders was cast in layers by Square-Level mages, including Old Osmond."

"…And you?" He asked.

Miss Longueville shook her head. "Oh no, I'm just a Triangle-Level and my ability at barriers is rather weak. Even a commoner would be able to break anything I tried to cast."

Ryan nodded, and something gnawed at the back of his mind.

Wulf agreed with the thought gnawing at his gracious host. _"A noble working as a secretary for another noble is a bit odd."_

Miss Longueville was caught up with a yawn. "Oh my, I can barely stay awake. I'm going to retire to bed. Enjoy your day, you two."

_"Ask if she could use some company."_

_Maybe when I'm in a more flirtatious mood_, Ryan replied to the other soul. Besides, he had all the company he needed right at his side.

"Well, let's go Siesta," Ryan said as he took Siesta's arm and led her off to the kitchen. "Our Princess is waiting for me to show my face so she can tear it off."

Siesta giggled as she merrily went along with him.

* * *

"Louise."

Silence.

"Louiseeeeeee."

She did not answer.

"Louiiiiiiise."

No response.

"Looooooouise."

Nope.

"Louuuuuuuise."

Louise was sitting at a table in the school's courtyard, ignoring Ryan and trying to enjoy a cup of tea as all the other students worked on their final touches for the Familiar Exhibition that would take place tomorrow. Well, not all of them. Aside from Louise, Tabitha was also sitting back and not really caring about the hopeless efforts of her classmates.

"Come on," Ryan whined as he rolled back and forth on the grass next to where she sat.

"Siesta, tell your master that I'm not speaking to him," Louise ordered.

Siesta was not too keen about being in the middle of this.

"You're the one who went into my head, thank you. I should be upset with you," Ryan pointed out.

Still nothing, he didn't really want to pull rank with her.

"Louise, come on." He got an idea. "Oh Louise~?"

She didn't say a word, didn't even look at him.

"Okay, if you don't want me to pick you up and carry you around like a child, say nothing."

The reaction was swift, but surprisingly quiet, as Louise turned and unleashed a glare that'd turn lesser men like Count Mott to ash where they stood. Ryan just felt a mild burning sensation on his face.

"Well?" He grinned, as if ready to pick her up and swing her around at a moment's notice.

Louise's cheeks turned a bright shade of red, before she tensed up and finally acquiesced. "Fine! What is it? What do you want?"

Ryan looked to Siesta. "I told you I'd wear her down."

Siesta clapped quietly in applause. Ryan looked back to his tiny witch familiar.

"I wanted to ask some questions about the staff around here, something's been bugging me all morning and I don't really want to ask around because it might raise suspicions."

"Aren't you plenty familiar with the staff?" Louise asked caustically.

"Adorable. I'm actually curious about Miss Longueville. What's her deal?"

"Why don't you familiarize yourself with her?" Louise looked away from him.

"I don't think Siesta's up for that kind of thing yet, though it's a work in progress."

Louise gave him a flat stare, and then looked at Siesta, who again gestured that she did not want to be in the middle of this. Seeing that Ryan was genuinely bugged by something, Louise sighed. "What do you want to know, exactly?"

"Well, she's a mage, right?"

Louise nodded, and was a bit more curious about this direction.

"And only mages can be nobles, right?"

Ryan's question received another nod.

"So why is she working a secretarial job? It doesn't look like it pays well, and unless she's a masochist I don't think she's doing it for fun."

Louise snorted, of course a person from a world as upside down as his wouldn't know any better. "Only mages can be nobles, but not all mages are nobles. Miss Longueville's probably from nobility, either her family was disgraced or she was disowned for something. That sort of thing happens."

_Oh there's no way, that's just too obvious now,_Ryan lamented inwardly. "She said she was a Triangle-Level mage, you can just disown that?"

"There are even Square-class mages out there without a house to call their own, she's not a special case," Louise replied.

Ryan hummed. "Or so we think. Hey Louise, what kind of mage is Fouquet?"

Louise knew that one easily. "He's an Earth Mage, Triangle… Level…"

She whirled on him. "That's ridiculous! Don't tell me you honestly think Miss Longueville is Fou-!"

Ryan clamped a hand over her mouth and rolled his eyes. "Hey, don't go shouting that kind of stuff, you never know who's listening in on our conversations."

He glanced over towards Tabitha for emphasis, though she did not appear to give any more of a damn about his and Louise's conversation than she did anything else.

"I have a hunch she might be, but I'm not going to go putting her up for information. It's just a thing that's been bugging me," he explained.

"And if Miss Longueville is Fouquet, what are you going to do?" Louise asked.

"Stop her, of course. She's a Triangle-Level Mage, if that's anything like the last two I fought, I'll walk all over her before she even realizes my boot's on her face."

Louise glared at him. "Just don't make a scene, okay?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die, I'm going to be entirely focused on winning your little exhibition for you anyway. Though, Tabitha's going to be a tough act to beat. She does have a pretty awesome pet dragon, after all," Ryan replied.

"Why couldn't I have summoned a dragon?" Louise lamented.

Ryan cringed. "Oh, if you summoned a dragon from my world you would not have liked it."

"What, do they endlessly annoy, talk back, and womanize too?"

"Enthusiastically," Ryan replied with a grin.

Louise rolled her eyes. "What do you plan on doing for the exhibition, anyway?"

Ryan's grin did not diminish. "Oh, I'm going to give you another lesson, and the other students can stand to learn a thing or two from it as well."

Louise did not like the sound of that. "Just don't do anything to embarrass me in front of the Princess, okay? I'd die if you did anything rude or crude or reckless."

"I am not the reckless sort, my dear kitten."

At Louise's look, he quickly added, "Name one time where I did act recklessly?"

"The entire Count Mott fiasco."

"Nah, I was in control of that situation the entire time. He was the one who got reckless, and funny enough, that ties right into my lesson plan."

Ryan got up and began to stretch. "It's really simple, Louise, and I'll explain it more in depth during the exhibition. But for now mull on this you already know: Count Mott and Wardes would've never treated me the way they did, if they knew what they were up against."

"Of course they wouldn't have, what's the point?" Louise asked.

"The point is, that's their failing and I don't want that to be yours." Ryan unceremoniously picked up Siesta, surprising her. "Give me a holler when the Princess shows up, okay? I'll be ready for any intrusions this time."

Before Louise could protest, both Ryan and Siesta simply vanished into thin air. Staring at the spot he'd been standing, Louise grimaced and went back to her tea.

"Perverted dog," she grumbled.

Tabitha closed her book and got up from her spot, conspicuously enough for Louise to notice. As stoic as ever, Tabitha whistled for her dragon, which swooped in like a mighty eagle and flew off with her. Louise watched the dragon fly off towards the other side of the school in bemusement.

What was that about?

* * *

Agnès de Milan, the young commoner captain for her Royal Majesty's Musketeers, was a woman who was rarely pleased with anything. Strict, stern, and notoriously short tempered when it came to mages (especially Fire Mages), it took a lot to put her in a good mood. Luckily, an event occurred recently that put her into one of those rare moods: The palace's Royal Messenger had apparently been driven insane, and burned down his own mansion before resigning himself to a Romalian Monastery.

It was no great loss to the palace. In fact, Her Highness the Princess was rumored to have breathed a quiet sigh of relief to hear of Count Mott's affliction and subsequent fall. The rest of the palace staff, especially the all-female Musketeers unit were much more open about their joy knowing that lecherous womanizer gone and never to be seen again.

So yes, nothing could bring her down, unless a certain Captain of another elite force decided to come up alongside her as she was escorting the Princess to the Academy of Magic and rub his power, prestige and rank all over her face like she were a used harlot. Oh look, there was the Viscount now.

"Captain Wardes, shouldn't you be performing reconnaissance over Albion?" Far, far away from her.

"I apologize for the intrusion, Captain Agnès, my unit was about to deploy in that direction," Wardes replied.

Professionally speaking, Agnès had nothing against Wardes. In fact as a fellow soldier she had the highest respect for him. Personally, however, she loathed the man. While many were taken in by his touching life story of struggle, he was still but another noble with a lot of connections to nobles and a severe disconnect towards the commoners they see as little more than pawns or playthings.

"Then what was it you wanted?" She asked.

"These past few days have been busy preparing for the reconnaissance mission, so I've been missing out on the talk going around. I only now just found out what has become of Mott."

"It is no great loss to the Palace," Agnès growled.

"I agree, Mott was a buffoon and a lout. What I'm curious are the circumstances, why did he go mad?"

Agnès raised her eyebrows. "Why do you care?"

"I heard a rumor he lost his mind after being trounced by a commoner in a duel, but the rumors are conflicting," Wardes said. "As your unit was especially interested in the news, I figured you'd know the more important details."

Boy was her unit interested in the news, they actually had a party to celebrate. "I don't know anything about the circumstances either. It seems that information is being suppressed by Royal Order."

Wardes took the hint, and tipped his feathered cap. "You're never going to find a husband with that cold attitude of yours, Captain."

"Well, unlike you nobles, it's a little harder because we commoners don't take our spouses straight from the cradle," Agnès shot back.

That one actually hurt, Wardes was impressed. "I'll take my leave of you, Captain."

"Do try to not smear yourself all over Dover's White Cliffs," Agnès called sardonically after him as he and his mount flew off to join the other Knights. She looked over to her Vice Captain, who just shook her head.

Honestly, what was so important that Wardes would swing by here to ask her, mid-mission, about how some worthless fat slob fell from grace? The how or why didn't matter, the world was better off without people like him leeching off the only truly good nobility in this country, the Royal Family.

Oh well, now was not the time to ponder such things, the procession was arriving at the school.

At the destination of the procession, Louise and Ryan watched as the first horses, manned by the musketeers, trotted down the lane, followed by the Princess's royal carriage, pulled by actual unicorns. Ryan decided that he was never going to get tired of this world's completely fantastical fauna.

Louise glanced up at Ryan as he watched the royal procession raptly, and found herself having worrying thoughts. What if he decided to be so uncouth to the Princess? What if he tried to seduce her? What if he _succeeded _in seducing her?

The scandal would be ruinous! The Princess being wooed by a strange foreigner. The royal family would lose the respect and standing it had with those of other countries, there could even be a war!

Ryan glanced at Louise when he sensed an incredible surge of anxiety from the mini mage. Clearly there was a tempest brewing in that teacup, and he was almost afraid to ask.

Almost. "Louise, are you alright?"

"D-don't you dare try anything untoward with the P-Princess, you hear me?" Louise whispered back harshly, as if she was barely restraining herself from exploding into a spastic rage.

Oh, was that all?

"Oh don't worry about that. I've got my hands full as it were."

_I'm sure. Still, he'd better not try to get greedy with Henrietta,_Louise thought darkly. She would likely murder him.

Ryan was admittedly surprised by that spike of murderous intent, and decided to back off from her across their connection and physically. Coincidentally this put him right up against Kirche.

"Oh! Hello Ryan," she said cheerfully.

"Hello, Kirche!" Ryan replied with equal cheer. There went that mild burning sensation again, this time on the back of his head.

He peered around her, and sure enough there was Tabitha as well. "Hello Tabby."

Tabitha turned her head towards him and just **stared**.

_"Oh, she's very good at expressing herself," _Wulf complemented.

Ryan agreed. Now if only Louise could practice such subtlety. Avoiding Tabitha's **stare**, he looked back at the procession. "So Kirche, what do you know about the Princess?"

"Oh, about as much as a Germanian girl would know. I've actually never seen her before in person, but I do know she's allegedly 'The most beautiful woman in Tristain' and she's been betrothed to a Prince back home."

"Most beautiful woman in Tristain, huh? I don't think I've seen a physically unattractive one since I've gotten here so this I've got to see."

What was that grinding noise he was suddenly hearing?

_"Do tell Louise not to do that, it's bad for her teeth," _Wulf advised.

The carriage carrying Princess Henrietta pulled up as the master of ceremonies proudly announced her arrival. "Now arriving is the Princess of Tristain! Her Highness, Henrietta!"

There was a light applause, as one of the Princess's entourage quickly opened the carriage, allowing another to step out and then help out the Princess herself. It was at this crucial moment that Louise opened up her link to Ryan wide to catch anything he might have been thinking at that possible moment.

"That's the Princess?" Kirche wasn't very impressed. "I'm better looking than her."

Ryan was much more impressed. _Louise was right to be paranoid, she's pretty good looking._

Wulf then commented, _"I wonder what her 'O' face is like."_

The thought crossed Ryan's mind, and he idly mulled this… just as Louise came barging into his head again.

"You! You…!"

Ryan, Kirche, and Tabitha turned to Louise, and each grew alarmed in their own particular style as a red-faced Louise's hair began to rise and the air shimmered around her.

Ryan immediately realized what happened, as he felt an aether surge across their link. "Uh oh."

"YOU CHAUVINIST PIG!"

Louise's yell carried with it a full on blast of force that sent Ryan flying through the air, into and through Henrietta's thankfully empty carriage, and all hell promptly broke loose.

Agnès quickly drew her blade as students began shouting. "An assassin?"

She immediately spotted Ryan sitting up and shaking his head from his brief flight, and quickly drew her other weapon of choice, a primed and ready musket pistol. "There!"

Ryan had managed to gather his bearings, when he noticed not only Agnès but the other musketeers aiming their weapons at him. He immediately put his hands up. "Don't shoot, I surrender!"

Agnès quickly rode up to the young man, keeping her weapon pointed at him as she quickly barked orders. "Make sure the Princess is safe! All students get away from here!"

"I'm not an assassin!" Ryan quickly shouted.

With her orders received by her subordinates, Agnès quickly jumped off her horse, and fell upon Ryan, making very sure to kick him in the head. On impact, everything went black for Ryan.

* * *

A sharp slap to the face awoke Ryan with a start. "Barb what the hell-?"

He stopped when he saw that he was tied to a chair, he was without his sword, the Captain of the Royal Musketeers was standing in front of him with her arms folded and a cross look on her face.

"How long have I been out?" He politely asked Agnès.

"Ten minutes."

"Huh. You're pretty strong, you knocked me out for a bit."

"I was trying to crush your skull."

Ryan tilted his head from side to side. "Passing marks for the effort at least."

Agnès narrowed her eyes. "Who are you exactly, you're not a student of this school, you're freakishly tall."

She grabbed him by the hair and roughly tilted his head, eliciting an "ow" from him, as she examined first one ear and then the other. "It's hard to tell, perhaps you transformed them."

Ryan grimaced as his head throbbed. "I'm not an elf, if that's your concern."

Agnès let him go. "We'll find out soon enough who or what you are. What happens after that depends on if there's a reasonable explanation for why you attacked the Princess's carriage."

"Oh, there is. You see my summoner–I'm a familiar you see–read my mind as I was having inappropriate sexual thoughts about your Princess. She was naturally offended and threw me into your Princess's carriage with the aid of a very powerful magical force."

Ryan took stock of Agnès's blank expression. "In her defense, she was angry and wasn't thinking. But I'm sure she'll apologize."

Agnès wasn't sure exactly how to take that, so she just asked the first question that spilled out of her mouth. "Are you an idiot?"

"Not usually, but you did hit me _really _hard."

Agnès conceded to that, and wished she hit him a bit harder. At that moment the door to the impromptu interrogation room, which was in fact the school's pantry, opened and Old Osmond, Colbert, Louise, and Princess Henrietta herself walked in.

"That will be enough, Captain, he's free to go," Old Osmond said to the orange-haired woman.

Agnès quickly nodded to the headmaster before bowing in salute to Princess Henrietta. "Your Highness? What are you doing here?"

"Old Osmond explained the unusual circumstances. This is Ryan Ingram, a boy from another world Louise-Françoise summoned as her familiar," Princess Henrietta explained.

"See?" Ryan asked, before he looked around. "Where's my sword?"

"Confiscated," Agnès replied.

"Can I have it back?"

Agnès shook her head. "I would rather you not have such handy access to a weapon until after the Princess has left the school."

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "Reasonable."

He looked to Henrietta. "Give this one a promotion, your Highness. She's pretty sharp compared to some other employees of yours I've met."

"Don't be so cheeky with the Princess!" Agnès growled.

"He's like this with everyone," Louise lamented.

In moments, Ryan was untied and he checked his wrists before unconsciously looking to where his sword would normally be secured. While he was concerned about it, he was certain it'd be safe no matter what they tried to do to it, and it'd get Wulf out of his head for a while.

That reminded him as he stood up. "Word of advice, don't play around with that sword. He tends to get bored and possessive when he's hanging out with other people."

Henrietta let out an "Oh" of surprise as the young man stood. Were all people in his world so tall?

"What does that mean?" Agnès asked.

Ryan smiled. "It means don't play with my sword."

Ryan and Louise soon left the school's kitchen, and were joined by Siesta as they headed back up towards Louise's chambers. Louise was a mix of emotions, still angry at Ryan, embarrassed for creating a scene, and mortified that Henrietta had to suffer this insanity.

"I'm sorry for having such impure thoughts about your Princess," he said, drawing her from her mortified state.

"No you're not," she replied.

Ryan sighed. "Louise, tell me what's bothering you."

Louise grimaced as she immediately looked away. Before she could try to make something up, he added:

"And tell the truth."

Louise huffed and simply let it out. "You said that you had a lover back wherever you came from, but you're off doing as you please with Siesta! Don't you have any shame?"

Ryan stopped walking, as did Louise and Siesta, as the heavy accusation hung over him. Louise glared at him as silence reigned, before she looked over at Siesta, who didn't seem to react at all to the revelation. She looked back to Ryan, who just slipped his hands into his pockets and looked aside.

"She won't mind." He was as nonchalant and cavalier as ever.

"What do you mean she won't mind? She's probably worried to death about you, wondering if you're even alive! What if you somehow returned to your world, what would you tell her?" Louise demanded.

For the first time, since he exploded at her in the dining hall, Ryan became visibly uncomfortable. The discomfort passed however, as quickly as it manifested. He waved the question off entirely. "I'd tell her that I met a girl while I was here. She'd understand."

"She'd just understand? Is your lover even a _human being_?"

"No," Ryan replied with a noticeable edge to his voice as he walked away. "I'm going to go for a walk. Don't follow me."

Louise watched him go as he finally vanished, before she looked to Siesta. "What about you? Do you even care?"

Siesta worried her lower lip. "It's unusual, yes, but trust him. He already explained it to me."

"I'm sure he did," Louise growled. "You can go now, do whatever you like."

Taking every opportunity to do so, Siesta quickly bowed to Louise and fled the awkward situation. It was as Siesta hurried off, that Louise grabbed the edges of her cape and lightly ground her teeth.

"That womanizing… cheating…"

"Louise-Françoise."

Princess Henrietta hugged Louise from behind. "Do you need to cry on my shoulder?"

Frozen, Louise glanced back at Henrietta, before she sniffled and slowly nodded. "P-Princess…"

* * *

Ryan laid down in the grass outside the school's imposingly high wall, his gaze fixed on the clear blue sky and the gargantuan moons that dominated the sky even in the middle of the day.

It didn't take long for Ryan to start missing Wulf and his ability to keep him on the outside of his thoughts looking in. Any distraction from the crushing homesickness he was experiencing would be a godsend.

It came, unexpectedly, with the Earth itself heaving up and opening at his side. Turning to stare at the hole in the ground, he gave a start when Verdandi, Guiche's giant mole familiar, popped out of the ground. The mole was followed by Guiche himself, who looked around quickly.

"Verdandi, I doubt they're holding him outside!" he admonished his familiar, who was now nuzzling Ryan happily.

"Guiche? What are you doing?"

Guiche quickly turned around and brightened. "Ingram, you escaped!"

"Escaped?" What was this about?

Guiche smirked. "Verdandi and I raced to rescue you when the Musketeers took you away, so we could bring you before the Princess and clear your name."

Ryan smiled. "You're a good man, Guiche. I was let out earlier."

Guiche climbed out of the hole and cast a quick spell to remove the filth from his body. "What happened to your sword?"

"They took it from me for until after the familiar exhibition."

"A shame but understandable," Guiche said before he noted that Ryan did not seem as chipper as he normally was.

"Is everything all right?"

Ryan stared at Guiche, before he heaved a sigh and shook his head. "No, not really, and it's not because they took my sword."

"You yearn for your homeland?" Guiche asked.

"Is it that obvious?"

Guiche walked over and laid down alongside Ryan to watch the clouds pass across the sky. "It is, but I understand your situation. Far from home, trying to make due when you would prefer to be where it's safe and familiar."

Ryan nodded. "It's hard for me to consider the possibility that I'll be here for a long time. I know I have to be patient, but when I think about everything that's on my side of the wall, it's hard to not get angry about it."

Guiche hummed. "Your side of the wall? What do you mean?"

"In my world, there is a theory that multiple universe exist overlapping one another, but separated by 'walls'. Like any physical wall, a sufficiently powerful enough force can break through the wall and you can traverse to the other side. But it has to be a tremendous amount of power, usually magic."

Hearing that, Guiche stared intently up at the two moons overhead. "I've heard an old story, that might interest you."

Ryan hummed. "What would that be?"

"Over sixty years ago, a pair of strange dragons appeared when both moons eclipsed the sun."

"Strange dragons?" Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, they flew faster than normal dragons, and made this constant buzzing noise that could be heard for miles. One flew back through the eclipse, but the other was unable to and circled in the air over the village of Tarbes for almost an hour before it landed nearby."

Faster than dragons? A constant buzzing noise?

Ryan grew wide-eyed when it dawned on him. "An airplane?"

Guiche looked from the sky to the other young man. "An airplane?"

"Yes, an airplane, a machine capable of powered flight." Ryan swelled with hope. "Is there supposed to be another eclipse like that anytime soon?"

"Well, yes actually. In a few weeks the moons are going to eclipse the sun and block it out."

Ryan suddenly propelled himself high, high into the air as he let out a cheer. "YAHOO! I'VE GOT A WAY HOME!"

Cartwheeling through the air, he landed and pulled Guiche onto his feet before giving him an ecstatic hug. "This is great! I really owe you for this, Guiche!"

He pulled away and quickly began pacing. "I'm going to need to prepare. As long as I can give them a signal, my world will be able to find me!"

Still whooping a hollering, Ryan bounded back towards the school, flipping and spinning through the air like some sort of terrestrial dolphin. Watching him go, Guiche looked to Verdandi and man and beast shrugged their shoulders.

* * *

When Louise was an even smaller girl than she already was, she and Princess Henrietta de Tristain had been the best of friends, confiding in one another all of their hopes, dreams, and secrets with absolute trust and sincerity. However, tragedy in the form of the death of the King and political upheaval struck and Henrietta was forced into the role of Tristain's ruler, causing the two to go their separate ways.

Since then, Louise had never thought of Henrietta as anything but her closest friend, and secretly hoped that Henrietta still thought of her the same way. So it was of great relief to the tiny, colorful mage that not only did Henrietta feel the same way, but had missed her every bit as much as Louise missed her.

They were in Louise's room, with Louise having told Henrietta of the last few days and the relentless chaos caused by her summoning.

"…And that's why I ended up blasting him. I honestly didn't expect for the Aether to do that to my voice, I was just so angry and he was thinking those perverted things about you…" Louise trailed off and sighed. "I am so sorry, Princess. I just lost my temper."

Henrietta, who sat with Louise on the edge of her bed, simply answered Louise with a sisterly hug.

"There's nothing to be ashamed or upset for. You've always been protective of me, as much as I've been of you, Louise-Françoise," the Princess said with a smile.

"But I made such a scene!" Louise argued.

"No one got hurt, and the damage to the carriage was easy to repair."

Louise bowed her head. "You're too kind, your highness. But you have no clue just how so embarrassing it is to have to deal with–"

Ryan suddenly appeared out of thin-air, tackling Louise onto her bed. "Louise!

"Oh my!" Henrietta gasped.

"Louise, this is great! I think I have a way to contact my world!" Ryan said excitedly as he lay atop Louise.

Louise was frozen in surprise at the unexpected pounce, but quickly recovered and promptly kneed him in the groin. "GET OFF ME! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

As Ryan rolled off her, clutching one of his more preferred body parts, Louise sat up and looked at Henrietta. "Do you see what I have to deal with?!"

Ryan rolled over and stood, that hurt like a bitch. "I was just hugging you!"

"You don't just t-tackle people like that to show your affection!"

"In my world, it is considered an enthusiastic, joyous greeting, particularly among the Trolls."

"Then go hug your trolls like that!" Louise snapped back.

Henrietta grew wide-eyed. "T-Trolls?"

The Princess of Tristain could only think of the barely sentient killing machines that were especially prevalent in the military of neighboring Albion.

Ryan folded his arms. "Soon, I will. As I was saying, I have a way to contact my world, so they can come and get me."

Louise's anger immediately fell away, replaced with surprise. "Huh? How?"

"Guiche told me about the Solar Eclipse and how it opens up a portal to another world," Ryan quickly explained, "If I can create a large enough Aether Burst during it, I can send a signal to my world and they'll be able to find me and come to this world easily."

That downright alarmed Louise. "Wait, _they_ can come _here_?!"

"It'll just be to get me, relax," Ryan reassured her and the Princess.

He then hummed. "I'm going to need some things though. Like a big open space, like a huge field or plain. I don't want anyone to be in the immediate vicinity when I channel the burst."

Henrietta grew curious. "Why, is it that dangerous?"

"Louise knows why," Ryan said as he looked to his summoner slash familiar.

Louise immediately blushed. "Oh founder, you don't mean…"

"Yep, it's that but a million times more powerful."

Louise's face burned a bright red.

Henrietta looked between the two. After recalling the briefing she received on this magic from Old Osmond and its particular properties, she blushed herself. "That must be such an awkward magic to deal with."

Ryan grinned. "You have no idea."

Henrietta smiled. "Still, it's impressive. You were able to do away with Count Mott so easily."

Louise went absolutely pale. "P-Princess, you know about that?"

Henrietta nodded. "Yes, but neither of you are in trouble for it. I even went as far as to suppress the information, so very few people know of it at all outside of those who witnessed it."

At Louise's completely puzzled look, Henrietta just laughed. "Louise, I did say I would look out for you, as you do for me. Besides, Count Mott was an unpopular man back at the palace, his departure was welcomed."

"Would you look at that, everything worked out in the end," Ryan said happily.

"You still didn't have to do all of that."

Ryan looked to Henrietta. "Would you like to know what Count Mott would've done to that poor Maid if I'd let him?"

Louise tackled Ryan this time. "NO! NO! NO!"

As Louise struggled to cover up his mouth to silence him, Henrietta let out a somewhat envious sigh. "Ah, to be so carefree."

* * *

The next day festivities were in full swing. To Ryan's eyes, it was like a mix between a renaissance festival, a carnival and a school fair. Jugglers juggled, there were singers and dancers in between the stands, fresh food served up everywhere. The atmosphere was happy and jubilant and infectious.

"Huh, is it like this every Familiar Exhibition?" He asked Guiche, who was going over with Verdandi the details of their performance once more.

"Yes. Last year, the Princess did not come, however," Guiche replied. "Still, it was enjoyable and now I will get the chance to show off to the students below me."

"So, what are you going to have Verdandi do?" Ryan asked, studying the large mole with interest.

Guiche let out a bit of a sly laugh. "Well, as you have seen, Verdandi is an incredible tracker. I intend to have him find some jewels I had Katie hide around the grounds."

"Jewels, huh?"

"Yes, Verdandi is especially partial to them."

Ryan smiled. "It should be interesting, too bad we're all going to lose."

Guiche hummed. "To whom?"

"Tabby." Ryan pointed over at the girl in question, sitting against the wall and reading a book. She hadn't lifted a finger to do a bit of practicing or shown even the slightest interest in the competition.

Tabitha turned her head towards Ryan and **stared**.

Guiche found himself experiencing true fear. "D-does she hate you?"

"Only when I call her that." Ryan smiled. "I think it's cute, personally."

Tabitha's **stare **lessened considerably, and she went back to reading.

"You have a strange definition of what is cute," Guiche admitted.

"Trust me, my friend, you have _no idea,"_Ryan said with a little grin. He did some stretches and warm ups, or what appeared to be stretches and warm ups. To Guiche, they looked more like a series of silly dances.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Here came Louise, as Colbert began announcing for everyone to gather for the competition.

"Warming up of course," Ryan said, rolling his shoulders, before he bent over to touch his toes. He then got onto his hands and began to walk around on them with a grin up at her. "You wouldn't want your familiar to beef it at a crucial moment, would you?"

Louise folded her arms. "No I wouldn't. But it's about to start and I want you to remember. Don't do anything reckless or stupid!"

"And by your definition, that would be...?" Ryan asked, now standing upside down on one finger.

Louise hesitated a bit as she observed the feat of strength, but quickly reasserted herself. "Just don't do anything that might embarrass or offend the Princess!"

"Ah, you're still being so vague Vallière," Guiche noted.

"Come on Kitten, give me some specifics. You're not running for Congress here, tell me what I should and shouldn't do," Ryan quipped, now doing push-ups on his single finger.

Louise flushed. "Don't call me that!"

"Would you prefer Princess? That might get a bit confusing," Ryan continued with a grin.

"You'll call me your Master!"

"Yes, your master."

Louise kicked Ryan in the back, knocking him onto his stomach.

"Oof! Hey!"

Louise grabbed him by his sweater's hood and pulled him along behind her. "Just don't be an idiot, impress the crowd with what you can do, and don't try to be fancy or funny!"

"Ah, so, you want me to emulate your dear viscount? Can do," Ryan said, pulling away from Louise and getting to his feet. He cleared his throat, adopted a stiff posture, and schooled his face into a look of utmost seriousness. He adopted a low, calm, deep voice as though he was deeply bored.

"Louise, on our wedding night we won't bother to actually do anything to each other–I'll just assume you will be impregnated by my sexual charisma while I go eat some porridge by the fire. Plain, bland porridge." Ryan tilted his head. "Do you feel with child yet?"

A great and malicious aura enveloped Louise. She slowly looked back at him. "You…!"

Ryan just smiled innocently and held his hands out. "Come on, Princess. You really were asking for that."

Louise prepared to throw herself at Ryan and pummel him for talking smack about Wardes, when Guiche mercifully placed himself between them. "Louise, calm down."

"Now, now Guiche, she's gotta get her nervousness out some way," Ryan said. He stuck his tongue out at Louise.

"You do recall what happened the last time you angered her?" Guiche asked.

"I'm doing it intentionally now. _Totally _different," Ryan assured him. Guiche gulped, and moved back out of the way.

Louise let out an inarticulate yell and threw herself at Ryan with every intention to beat him into submission. Ryan was already behind her, and clapped his hand against the small of her back.

In an instant, Louise's eyes flew wide, and she let out a loud but helpless gasp as she fell forward and onto the ground, her entire body shaking.

Guiche stared wide-eyed as Louise curled up into a ball and let out a long, blissful moan. "D-did you just…?"

"Aether magic," Ryan said with a little smile. "She's totally relaxed now."

Louise slowly got up, and ended up falling back down onto her backside as her legs had all the consistency of jam. Reaching down, Ryan took her by her wrists and lifted her up to eye level, her feet dangling off the ground. "Feel better, now?"

"You're the worst, utterly shameless," she replied. Her anger was a bit displaced however.

Ryan sighed. "Yeah I'm a flirt and I'm a bit lax in terms of shame, but what I have going on with Siesta my girlfriend would be fine with."

Louise pouted. "Why didn't you just jump into bed with Zerbst, then?"

"Because I'd be dead to you if I did." Ryan's smile returned.

Louise's already flushed face darkened a bit more, and she looked away. "You can put me down, now."

"Sure? I could just carry you onto the stage," Ryan said with a wink.

Louise kicked him in the stomach, a bit feebly though. "Just put me down!"

Ryan rolled his eyes good naturedly, and set her back down on the floor. "Come on, give me a good introduction," he said, gesturing for the stage.

"When it's our turn, everyone goes in alphabetical order," Louise said as she stood up and tested her weak knees.

Great, they were going to be waiting all day. Before he could complain about it, Ryan immediately noticed, of all people, Agnès walking over to him, carrying his sword in her hands. "Huh?"

Agnès quickly handed him the sword. "Here, take it back now."

Both Louise and Guiche were surprised. Ryan reached out and grasped the sword by the hilt, raising an eyebrow as he studied her expression. She looked a bit weary, as if she'd just awoken or had been out all night. He then grinned.

"He didn't cause you _too_much trouble, did he?"

Agnès just shook her head. "Keep it sheathed, and there won't be any trouble."

"Good advice I live by every day," Ryan replied. "Thank you."

_"In more ways than one,"_Wulf added.

Agnès just let out a hum, and left to rejoin the Princess's guard detail. She was more than ready to wash her hands of last night and pretend it never happened.

It was good to hear his voice again. _Welcome back, my friend,_Ryan replied.

_"Hello, my student," _Wulf replied.

_What did you do to her?_ He asked.

_"Nothing terrible! I just possessed her, went into town, had some food and drink, and made friends with a charming girl named Jessica. Apparently she's Siesta's cousin."_

_A cousin, huh?_

_"There's more, and this will interest you. She and Siesta are descendants of a man from another world, given the story Jessica told me."_

Ryan blinked. _A man who rode atop a strange dragon?_

_"Aye, how'd you know?"_

_Leaf through it, we'll discuss later when I'm less distracted,_ he decided.

For now it was time to sit back and enjoy the show. He looked over to Louise, whose blush had cleared up. He smiled at her and leaned back, putting his arms behind his head. "Don't be so nervous, Louise. We'll do fine and get an easy second place."

Louise sighed and grumbled, "Because Tabitha has an actual dragon."

"Right. Still! Second place isn't bad," Ryan observed. "Certainly a step up from before."

* * *

As the competition began and students one by one stepped off to show their Familiars and their various talents, a solitary cloaked figure reached the imposing, barricaded wooden doors that contained not only the school's rarest artifacts but the Staff of Destruction itself. Stepping up to the doors, the woman rested her hand atop it and tested it.

Almost immediately she felt an impenetrable wall, a complex, deep and dense magic that offered no give and reinforced not only the wood but the air itself.

Fouquet of the Sand let out a sigh. It was far beyond her ability as a Triangle Mage to break something so skillfully crafted; she had to hand it to the royalty and to the Square-class mages of this school. She wasn't dealing with the average arrogant mages with long outdated spells.

It just meant she would require a far more direct approach.

Outside, Ryan was watching as a student with some sort of Beholder monster familiar demonstrated the creature's abilities with a bit of amusement. It could cast various magics, including cast a strange light that caused unseen things to appear. Louise and the other students marveled at the mysterious light, even as Ryan tried not to blurt out and explain it.

It reminded him, and he reached into one of his belt pockets to pull out the notebook he'd been copying things into from the Time Travel Cheat-Sheet. "Clarke's Third Law strikes again..."

Louise looked over. "What are you on about now?"

"It's what you might call an eponymous law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," Ryan recited. He thought about it. "Or it might be the other way around in this case. Your magic is using ultraviolet rays to reveal hidden things. We can do the same thing with technology, you do it with magic."

Louise blinked. "So your world has a lot of technology?"

"It's a lot more advanced than yours, but you haven't had an industrial revolution yet."

_"Probably never will, with how nobility sits on everything," _Wulf remarked.

Ryan agreed. "With the way things are, it'll be a long time before your world comes along that far."

Louise grew slightly offended. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," Ryan thought of a way to explain it diplomatically. "It's no fault of your own, or any individual person. These kinds of things just take time to advance, it's not just a technological change, society has to change too before it moves forward. It's different for every society. My world? We didn't even know magic was real until recently so it's no easy feat."

Louise nodded. "I see. So what needs to change in my world for things to progress faster?"

Ryan smiled. "A lot of things."

"Next up is Louise de la Vallière!" Colbert called from the stage.

Together, Louise and Ryan walked onto the stage as the audience politely applauded. At the front of the crowd, Guiche and Montmorency were noticeably more enthusiastic.

"Show them the spirit of a true man, Ryan!" Guiche cheered.

"Good luck, Louise!" Montmorency added.

Kirche was especially vociferous. "Ryan~! Show them how great you are!"

Tabitha, sitting atop her dragon familiar, had pulled out her book and started reading. Ryan couldn't help but smirk at that, and then turned his attention to the Princess, who sat under a tent next to Old Osmond while surrounded by her musketeers, Agnès among them.

Louise cleared her throat. "Let me introduce, my familiar spirit, Ryan Ingram!"

She looked back at him, and he nodded.

With his consent, she continued, "Ryan is a human from another world, and not only is he a skilled swordsman, but he's also a powerful mage! He even defeated a Triangle-Class mage effortlessly, and would've defeated another but he held back so… so that other mage wouldn't be embarrassed in front of everyone!"

She looked back at Ryan. "So, go ahead and show them what you can do… f-familiar."

Ryan let his hands drop at his sides, and smiled a bit. "Yes, master."

He walked past Louise and to the edge of the stage. The other students turned their attention from Louise to him, as he rested one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Everything that my master says is true, I was the 'commoner' who defeated Count Mott last week. The Crashing Wave didn't even touch me with so much as a drop of water."

While many students had already suspected it and some, particularly the circle that surrounded Kirche, Tabitha, and Montmorency, knew full well this was true, the boast was a surprise. Much more surprised, however, were the Musketeers and their captain.

"He defeated Mott?" Agnès looked at the sword. "It's possible, perhaps it was Wulf."

"In fact, barring Old Osmond and my Master, I could easily defeat every mage here, all at once or one at a time."

He sat down on the stage and folded his legs. "Aside from those two. There's nothing stopping me from doing whatever I like to you, this school, and your Princess."

Agnès grew tense and quickly motioned to her musketeers to be on guard, but the crowd's surprise drew her attention back to the stage. Ryan was gone.

"Where-?" She looked back and froze when she saw him standing behind Henrietta's chair, his hands on her shoulders.

Henrietta jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes, as even Old Osmond jumped from his chair like a man twenty years younger. Before he could even hold up his staff, Ryan was gone, and so was Henrietta.

Whirling around, Agnès was struck speechless again when she saw he was back on the stage with Henrietta, who appeared a bit disoriented but otherwise, intact. The audience was in complete shock.

Not everyone, though. Guiche had possibly the biggest grin on his face, as he nodded his approval of Ryan's daring act.

Kirche had a hand over her mouth, partly to hide her own smile. "Oh my!"

Tabitha appeared to be annoyed, but it was hard to tell. Her book had been plucked from her hands, abruptly vanishing before her eyes. When she looked up at the stage, sure enough Ryan was sitting there, holding it in his hands as he wore that grin that infuriated Louise so easily.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, Tabitha." He looked at her as he emphasized her name, and then returned his attention the crowd. "There's nothing stopping me, except for my own strength of character, and while you're all young mages still learning your craft… you still have devastating and destructive abilities that you all need the strength of character to use it responsibly."

He looked to Henrietta. "Thank you, your Highness, for serving as my example."

Henrietta smiled, taking it in stride. "Of course. Ah, could you perhaps return me to my seat?"

The moment she finished speaking she realized she was sitting back in it. "Oh!"

She called out to Ryan. "Thank you!"

Ryan held Tabitha's book in hand, and spun it on the end of his finger. "Power comes in many ways, magic, physical ability, money, and anything else that gives you the advantage over the man or woman next to you. What you do and don't do with that power is dependant on you and what consequences you're willing to face for using it. Take Count Mott for my next example."

He tossed the book to himself and before it fell into his hands it was gone, back neatly in Tabitha's lap. Even as they realized the book was gone, they were noticing Siesta standing on the stage, her hands folded in front of her.

"Count Mott, the former palace messenger and enemy to all women everywhere, was a lecherous man who used his status of nobility to lord himself over commoner women like Siesta here, with no one really able to protest this simply because of his power in status, connection, and if that failed, magic."

Ryan smirked some. "He felt, that since none had opposed him with any difficulty before that it was his unalienable right to do as he saw fit with those below him. Who did he have to fear? Higher nobility who could not care less for what he did with the dirt that was even further below than him? The Royal Family who didn't want to cause a scene or were blind to his corruption?"

The Musketeers all looked to one another, sharing bitter nods about Count Mott and his attitude towards them. Agnès relaxed somewhat, but still had her pistol and rapier secured in her grip, ready to draw.

"That is arrogance, and it is something that all of you should well and truly fear." Ryan looked back at Louise, briefly. "Thinking that because you're powerful or that you have power that you're unstoppable causes you to miss the big picture and the gravity of your situation. Count Mott, had he known what he was against that day, would've never chosen to bait me into a fight for Siesta. However, none of you should ever put yourselves into that kind of situation."

He stood up. "Abusing your powers, though it has its appeal I won't lie…" Ryan smiled briefly, before frowning. "…Comes with a very high price."

On the other side of the school, Fouquet of the Sand drifted down from a window and set down into a kneel. Concentrating, she unleashed a spell into the grassy ground below.

"You can use your magic to be the likes of Count Mott, ruthlessly abusing your power and title to get what you want, or you can be the likes of your Princess, or your teachers, using their power not for their own personal gain but for the sake of others!"

Many of the students nodded assent.

"Let me assure you, if you use your great powers like the latter, you'll never have to fear the likes of me appearing in your doorstep…"

Ryan closed his eyes, and everyone in the audience felt a phantom weight pushing them down. Opening his eyes, Ryan unleashed a visible shockwave that blew hair back and pushed against them as it washed over. He grinned.

"…A much more powerful force than you, that you don't realize until it's far too late."

With that Ryan bowed and the students immediately broke into applause.

On the sidelines, Old Osmond couldn't help a merry laugh. "Well! I guess he's made things a little more difficult politically."

Henrietta looked over to Old Osmond. "Just a little, but I don't believe there's too much to be worried for. He's a good person… if a bit eccentric."

Ryan hugged Siesta as they and Louise descended from the stage. They were immediately met by Guiche and Montmorency, with Kirche and Tabitha standing back a few paces.

"Splendid performance, Ingram!" Guiche congratulated, before he noticed Ryan seemed a bit off. "Are you all right?"

Ryan's face was flushed and he was panting noticeably as he held Siesta tight to his side. Montmorency immediately recognized the restless expression as being almost identical to Guiche's when he was feeling amorous.

Louise didn't need to recognize it, she could feel it across their link plain as day. "You overexerted yourself!"

Ryan smiled gamely. "I did, but it was worth it to teach you."

Siesta squeaked and blushed. Louise narrowed her eyes. Ryan shrugged.

"Would you prefer I squeeze _your _bottom?"

Louise's face reddened, before she looked away. Ryan grinned and squeezed Siesta's bottom again. The maid flushed and giggled softly.

Colbert, himself a bit shaken by the show, stepped up to the stage. "The judging portion of the exhibition shall now commence!"

Ryan then looked around, he heard something, like a slight rumble. "Hey, did you hear that?"

Louise looked back at him. "Hear what?"

Kirche hummed. "I hear it too, what is that?"

Montmorency and Guiche looked around the sky, and the latter shook his head. "Not a cloud in the sky, so it isn't thunder."

It wasn't a good idea, given how much he'd already exerted himself, but Ryan honed his senses like a blade and listened. He heard it much clearer this time, thunderous, heavy footsteps by something very, very large. It still sounded heavily muffled, like it was far away or muffled… magically…

Ryan looked around. "Where's Miss Longueville?"

Louise blinked in confusion. "What about her?"

She paused and then frowned. "Oh no, not this again, you think 'Fouquet' is up to something, don't you?"

Ryan generated a burst of aether. "I don't think Fouquet is up to something…"

* * *

Atop her golem, Fouquet watched as her construct of Earth, rock, grass, and trees drew back its fist and lunged, punching the side of the school and striking a powerful barrier that warped and rippled from the force of the impact.

"I didn't think the barrier would be this strong!" she gasped in surprise. "Old pervert, you've outdone yourself."

"…I knew you were up to something."

Fouquet looked down at Ryan in surprise, finding him standing not too far from the Golem. He was standing there with a smile and hands hanging by his sides.

Replacing her surprise with a cool smirk, Fouquet laughed. "Well, this is awkward. I expected to be long gone by now."

Ryan nodded. "Well, any competent master cat burglar should have a backup plan in case things go south, am I right?"

"Luckily, I have several," Fouquet said as the Golem lifted its fist and swung it down on Ryan.

Ryan dove and rolled out of the way of the fist, the impacting hand of rock and earth creating a shockwave that nearly knocked him over. With catlike agility, he flipped onto his hands and feet, and lunged clear as the golem dragged its hand across the ground to swat at him.

Coming to a stop, Ryan lifted one hand from the ground to the hilt of his sword, as he remained crouched low to the ground. "So, this is backup plan number one, huh?"

"Inelegant and brutish, yes, but it works better than you think!" Fouquet replied, before the Golem swung down at Ryan again.

Ryan unsheathed his sword and slashed the air in front of him in a crescent arc. The golem promptly lost half its hand, which landed behind Ryan while the rest of the hand crashed to the ground in front of him. Before he could produce a witty comment, the golem's hand regenerated as it swung at him again, gouging a trench as it tried to hit him.

He dove and rolled clear, and then jumped again to avoid the other hand, which clapped down with an open palm much faster than the other hand. Atop her mount, Fouquet couldn't help but laugh.

"How interesting! You're more agile than most!" she complimented.

"I don't know, I've done faster," Ryan replied.

Fouquet waved her hand, and the golem obeyed the unspoken command. "Come on then, show me!"

The golem raised its hands above its head, and then slammed them into the ground with great force. A split second later, razor-sharp iron spikes shot up from the ground directly under and around Ryan. Watching the spikes tear apart the field, Fouquet saw the boy wasn't among them.

"Impressive," she said before her golem suddenly slumped towards its left side. "What?!"

She looked to the right, and found that the arm of the golem had been cut clean away.

"Plan A's not looking so good, is it?"

Ryan was standing on one of the spikes, right where he had been before she used the area spell.

Drawing her wand, Fouquet waved it. "We've only started, Aether boy."

With a rapid incantation, she quickly turned the ground beneath the iron spikes into sand, which began to swirl around rapidly. Waving her wand again once more, she finished it with a sword-like cut, and arcs of sand suddenly lashed out, hoping to impale or slice Ryan to pieces.

Ryan quickly began to hop from spike to spike, narrowly avoiding the streams of sand, one of which was enough to tear a sizeable patch out of the sleeve of his hoodie. "Whoa!"

_"Ah! Now this is starting to feel like home!" _Wulf cheered as Ryan dodged another sand stream.

_I'm not that homesick anymore!_ Ryan thought back, kicking off the ground. He swung his blade again, this time aiming his strike at the chest of Fouquet's mount.

Fouquet smirked. "I've got you now, boy!"

The golem suddenly lashed out with its regenerating right arm, its hand becoming covered in spikes as it hurtled towards Ryan. Fouquet watched as the spikes all but touched Ryan, but then suddenly he vanished from sight.

Fouquet's smirk turned into a grin. "You're still showing off?!"

Rather than stop, the golem continued it swing, turning around and driving its hand straight towards the ground behind it just beyond the spikes, where Ryan had reappeared.

Ryan finished sheathing his sword. "Nah, I'm just done with fighting your slow pet rock."

The golem's right arm crashed into the ground behind him, detached from its body. Fouquet lost her footing as the golem's right leg and left arm similarly detached, sending her and the entire construct plummeting right into the sandy spike pit she created.

On impact, a wave of sand and dust shot from every direction, quickly washing over Ryan and sending a plume hurtling skyward and capturing the attention of the crowd on the other side of the school.

"Was that an explosion?" Kirche asked as the dirt cloud rose.

Louise grew alarmed. "He's fighting her!"

Kirche looked. "Who?"

Louise only needed to glean their link to know. "Fouquet!"

Back in the center of the dust cloud, Ryan shielded his eyes as he reached into one of his belt pockets and produced a pair of goggles. Quickly slipping them on, he looked around in the swirling sand, which refused to dissipate.

"So, Fouquet, how do you know about my Aether ability?" He asked into the sandstorm.

He quickly moved, avoiding the spikes that shot up from the ground underneath him. Dodging several more that attempted to impale him from odd angles and directions, he thrust his hand forward as he clenched it into a fist, sending a concussive force straight in front of him and shattering the iron spikes that attempted to tear him apart from head on.

Fouquet laughed. "A master thief never reveals her secrets."

Ryan followed her voice and was there in an instant, one hand resting on the cloaked figure's chest as he drew the other back. In that same instant, he realized his error, and jumped away as numerous iron spikes tore apart the cloak and revealed nothing more than a mound of dirt in the rough shape of a woman.

"Okay, I think it's time to reassess my earlier boast," Ryan admitted before a stream of sand bigger than he was struck and enveloped him, lifting him high into the swirling storm and taking the shape of a tornado.

On the ground, Fouquet waved her wand, and the stream of sand solidified into a pillar, with Ryan trapped at its very top in a large dense ball. Keeping her wand pointed at it she waved it again, and streams of sand lifted off and snaked away, before turning around and solidifying into long spears at their ends.

"It's such a shame it has to end like this," she lamented.

A large shadowy figure descended upon her from above, and Fouquet had only a second's worth of time to leap out of the way of the large blue dragon that dropped from the sky above. As she recovered, she was struck by a powerful and cold blast of wind that sent her flying out of her sand storm, causing it and Ryan's prison to collapse into harmless dirt and sand.

Fouquet, coughing, got up and found Tabitha, now wearing a tiny gold crown denoting her as winner of the Familiar Exhibition, seated atop her dragon, with her staff pointed squarely at her. "The Gallian…?"

"Pfft!" Ryan spat out some sand and shook his head. "Okay, I got careless."

_"Are you ready to actually end this then, boy?" _Wulf demanded.

Fouquet looked from Tabitha to Ryan, and then towards the tower. It looked like there was just no helping it. "It looks like my perfect record ends here, but it was fun, Aether boy."

Ryan suddenly appeared in front of Fouquet his profile low as he stared up at her. "Yeah, it was."

Fouquet's eyes shot wide. "W-what?!"

He slammed his palm against her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. An explosive force then shot out of Fouquet's back, shredding her cloak and blasting her hood from atop her head as it tore apart the ground behind her all the way up to the wall, which received a deep, circular impression.

Everything went still then, as Tabitha's eyes widened slightly when she recognized the woman underneath Fouquet's cloak.

Ryan, panting, bit his lower lip and shuddered. "It's been hell of a run, but this is the climax!"

He drew his hand back and slammed his other palm into the same spot, firing off a second burst of pure Aether through Miss Longueville and into the wall behind her, successfully blowing a hole completely through it.

Ryan fell to his knees, panting. "T-too much… oh God…"

Miss Longueville was still standing, her face was deeply flushed, her eyes partially rolled back, and her mouth hanging open. Letting out several soft gasps as her body shook and spasmed involuntarily, she fell onto her back, and moaned deeply and happily.

_"You actually lasted a bit longer than normal," _Wulf noted.

"It doesn't change a thing," Ryan replied aloud. "I was seriously redlining through the whole thing."

His mentors back home would be telling him the same thing.

Tabitha walked over, her staff pointed at Miss Longueville, before she realized that the woman was not getting up again any time soon, but still very much alive. She looked down at Ryan, who managed to fall back on his ass, before flopping onto his back.

He closed his eyes. "Thanks, Tabby."

Tabitha stared down at him, and then poked him in the face with the end of her staff. "Do not call me that."

"Come on, it's cute," Ryan pleaded with a smile.

Tabitha's expression didn't change, though her cheeks became slightly warmer as she poked him again. "Charlotte."

Ryan opened one eye. "Eh?"

"Call me Charlotte, but only to my face. Tabitha, in front of everyone else."

Ryan closed his eyes and chuckled. "Okay, Charlotte."

"Ryan!" Louise's worried cry was punctuated by her landing atop him and hugging him tightly. "You idiot! You're all but going to explode!"

"I'll be fine, don't worry." Ryan patted Louise on the back, and hummed softly as he began to rub her back.

"I can't believe you'd do something like this after using the Aether so much, what kind of teacher are you?" Even as Louise chastised him, she was checking for any serious injuries, and when she did not find any, she hugged him. "You idiot!"

Ryan let out a laugh. "It'll take more than a bit of sand to put me out," he said as he groped her backside, causing her to squeak loudly.

She looked up at him, with wide eyes and a flushed face. "…Y-you!"

Tabitha tilted her head as Louise jumped up and began to stomp him like he was on fire. "HOW DARE YOU FEEL ME UP?! I'M AN ENGAGED WOMAN! DON'T YOU HAVE A MAID YOU CAN DO THOSE THINGS TO?! YOU PIG! YOU DOG! YOU PERVERT!"

"Ow! Ow! Hey! Ow!"

"Louise, stop you might break him!" Kirche called as she, Montmorency, and Guiche finally caught up, ahead of the musketeers and a few of the school's staff.

"He can take it!" Louise kicked him again.

"OW! Thanks for the vote of confidence, ow!"

Kirche looked over and grew surprised when she found Miss Longueville, in her tattered clothes, sound asleep, and looked to Tabitha. "What happened?"

Tabitha pointed at Miss Longueville. "Fouquet."

Louise stopped and looked over at Miss Longueville. Blinking a few times as her face cycled rapidly from surprise, to disbelief, and then to indignation, she kicked Ryan again. "Don't you dare say 'I told you so', you lecher!"

"Ow! Quit that or you're getting a spanking!" Ryan growled, and received a reprieve from Louise. "As for _Miss Longueville_…"

"She'll be taken into custody," Agnès interrupted as she and the other musketeers reached the group. "Thank you, but we shall take it from here."

Ryan sat up, as two of the female soldiers picked up the sleeping woman. "Do what you have to. I'm just happy to have done my part."

As Miss Longueville was carried off, Agnès looked down at Ryan. "You had some trouble against a single Triangle Mage after boasting like you did."

Ryan smiled weakly. "The irony is killing me, I know."

"Still…" Agnès nodded. "You acquitted yourself well."

"I had help, but thank you."

"You're welcome." The Captain of the Royal Musketeers turned and followed her soldiers. "Don't be so reckless again."

Ryan watched her go, and hummed. _Agnès, what kind of woman is she?_

_"A female Yuuzes, but with a much more accessible soft side," _Wulf replied.

Ryan sighed and finally stood up. _Maybe she's a Dragon, too._

"Are you done undressing her with your eyes?" Louise asked.

Ryan looked over to her. "Would you prefer I undress you with my eyes?"

Louise jumped up and kicked him in the head. "Die!"

"Nice kick," Montmorency said, and Guiche and Kirche nodded in agreement.

* * *

Later that evening, Louise sat on her bed, holding the tiny silver crown she received for second place in the familiar exhibition. Ryan was not in the room, he was with Siesta and even with her link clamped shut she could all but hear what the two of them were doing to each other, and it aggravated her to no end.

There was so much to think about, so many conflicting feelings, and it just did not help that even as she tried to reason with herself, she could almost imagine the clouds of Aether around her every thought.

The door opened, and Louise looked to see Henrietta enter, pulling the hood of her cloak from atop her head. "Princess…"

"Good evening, Louise-Françoise," Henrietta said as she sat down next to her.

"What are you doing here so late; shouldn't you be back at the palace?"

Henrietta just smiled. "I'll leave in the morning; I wanted to spend the night with my best friend."

Louise gasped, and then smiled herself. "Ah, you're too kind, Princess."

"You can call me Henrietta, let's not be formal for once."

Louise nodded, and looked back at her crown. Henrietta walked over and sat down next to her slightly smaller friend. Louise looked weary, it wasn't a surprise given how hectic today was, but Henrietta was already keen on the cause of her tiredness.

She hugged Louise. "That boy, he takes a lot out of you, doesn't he?"

Louise sighed and resigned into her embrace. "He's absolutely infuriating!"

The spike of indignation cooled as quickly as it erupted. "I don't understand him at all."

Not for any lack of trying. There were some aspects about him, from what she learned about him, that she could grasp and understand. She understood that he wasn't a bad person, and that he honestly meant well for mostly everything. She realized that the Aether was as much of a burden on him as it was on her, maybe even more. But there were the facets to his personality and behavior that just struck her dumb and caused her nothing but frustration. His shameless perversions and his nonchalance rubbed her raw, but not as badly as his habit of getting into fights with powerful mages.

But that was really only the tip of it.

She looked up at Henrietta. "Are you really fine with him, and what he's doing…? I summoned him, and he's caused so much chaos. Now he's gone and told everyone how powerful he is, and he beat Fouquet, and when his world comes looking for him they're going to come here and…"

She sighed and paused, before simply asking, "Are you afraid of him? Of me?"

Henrietta tightened her hug. "I have no reason to ever be afraid of you. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me, and wouldn't let anyone hurt me."

"And him?"

The Princess didn't mince words. "He terrifies me."

Louise grew wide-eyed. "Henrietta!"

"He does, but he's no more frightening than the others that I work with day to day. In fact, he's much more pleasant than any diplomatic meeting." Henrietta sighed at that.

"I'm sorry for bringing him into our world," Louise lamented.

"Don't be. As frightening as he is, I won't lose sight of the fact that he's done nothing but good for others, most importantly protecting and helping you with this." She nuzzled Louise affectionately as she took her asterisk-marked hand and held it up.

Louise stared at the black rune, and a soft glow began to emit from its edges. The aether seeping through it aided Henrietta's efforts to calm her, and began to turn her ragged fatigue into a comfortable drowsiness.

"Are you afraid of him, Louise-Françoise?"

Louise immediately thought of her recent dream, and tensed. She shook her head.

"No, I'm not afraid of him," she quietly replied before quickly adding, "I can handle him just fine! It's everyone else, like you, that I'm afraid for."

Henrietta smiled, while wondering about her hesitation. "Then no one has anything to worry about. Everything will be fine, Louise, I trust that boy to use his powers as a good person, and I trust you to protect us if he doesn't."

Louise grew relieved, and hugged Henrietta back tightly. "Thank you."

She still felt horrible, lying to her best friend about what really bothered her. But she wasn't ready to accept the truth yet, either.

With Siesta curled up alongside him, asleep, Ryan stared at the screen of a smart phone, his thumb swiping across the screen as he looked at a gallery of photos saved onto it. The picture he was on featured him with his arm wrapped around a modestly dressed woman with a surprising resemblance to Kirche, the bangs of her long black hair even concealing one of her eyes, as the two of them smiled to the camera Ryan held above them.

He sighed, and brought the phone to his lips.

"I miss you so much."

Turning off the screen, he set the phone aside and cuddled Siesta.

_"Just a few weeks and you'll be home."_

Ryan nodded in agreement with Wulf, and looked at Siesta, sleeping peacefully with a content expression on her face. "Yeah, home."

* * *

A/N: What a pain to edit this, why does the text bunch up when I use different formats, guys?


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